Harry Potter Who?
by HP.HG. fan forever
Summary: What if Harry survived that aweful night and no one knew it. Will be a tear jerker and one of hope.
1. Chapter 1

What if everybody thought Harry died that night with his parents? Harry/ Hermione Rated M sex, Language, Violence maybe more

Chapter One: Harry's Life before Hogwarts

A ten-year-old boy huddles in his room. **'His room'** he thought. **'I wonder if this is the way every child without parents lives.'** You see Harry's room is a cupboard under the stairs. His parents died when he was a baby and someone left him here with his aunt and uncle.

Life was not easy for Harry. His relatives didn't want him there. He was a freak according to them. He didn't understand that. He was no different from his cousin Dudley. Of course, Dudley was stupid and lazy. Harry thought about this a lot. Dudley was fat (so was his uncle) Harry was skinny. Dudley got plenty to eat; Harry barely got anything to eat. Dudley was stupid; Harry was smart but had to hide his intelligence. Dudley was lazy; Harry had to do all the work around the house. They had him start as soon as he was old enough to know what to do.

Harry didn't even know his own name until he started school. He thought it was either 'Boy' or 'Freak'. He didn't dare talk back or fail to do his work. Neither was healthy for him. Some times, he wondered how he survived. Doctor and hospital were not words in his vocabulary. When he started school, the nurse asked him why he was so skinny; his aunt said he was sickly. She thought this strange as Harry seldom missed a day of school. She could see pain in his eyes when he returned, but he always said he was fine. Never shed a tear. If he wouldn't complain, there wasn't much she could do.

Mean while in a castle in Scotland, an older woman was looking at the list of students to enroll in the next couple of years. One name stood out. Harry Potter. **'How can this be?'** she thought. '**He died nine years ago.'** She looked at the address. Harry Potter Cupboard under the Stairs, #4 Privet Dr., Surrey, England. She studied the address for a long time. **'What a strange address.'** She made up her mind that she would not wait until next year to see if this was indeed the Harry she thought it was or just someone with the same name. She would have to dress the part, after all. This was not official school business and they may not be magical.

Before her trip, she checked out the area to find out if there were any safe places to apparate to safely. She found a park two blocks from the house that was safe enough and made plans to visit the next evening.

As Minerva walked down the street, she noticed that all the houses looked a like. '**Do these people have no imagination?**' She just shook her head in disgust. When she reached #4, she had to admire the flowerbed out front. There was a young boy that was maybe eight or nine working in the flowers. "The flowers are very pretty. Your mother does very nice work." She said.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but my mother is dead." The boy replied.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Who does the garden work than, your father?"

"Oh no, ma'am. He's dead too. I do all the work in the garden."

"Who do you live with then? Who takes care of you?"

"I live with my aunt and uncle."

"Are they at home?"

"Yes ma'am, they are. Excuse me but I have to finish before I can eat." "Maybe." He whispered. He didn't think it was loud enough for the woman to hear, but Minerva had very good hearing.

Minerva approached the door and knocked. A horse-faced woman answered the door. "May I help you?" she asked in a nasally voice.

"Maybe, I am Minerva McGonagall. May I come in?"

They went into the living room and the lady-of-the-house offered her tea.

"I'm Petunia Dursley."

"I'm looking for a young boy that goes by the name Harry Potter."

"Why would you be looking for Him?" she asked with disdain.

"He maybe the son of some friends of mine. They died a long time ago. I thought he was dead too. I just want to be sure." She explained.

"What makes you think he lives here?"

"I work for a school and came across his name and gave this address. Doesn't a Harry Potter live here?" Minerva asked.

Petunia studied her for a long time.

"You're one of them aren't you? Get out of my house. I won't have your kind in my house. It's bad enough we have to house that 'freak'. We don't have to let in others. Now **get out**" she screamed.

A whale of a man came waddling in the living room with a plate of cake in his hand. "What's all the yelling about?"

"She's one of them, Vernon. She's asking about 'him'."

Vernon looked at her puzzled. "The freak" he asked.

"Yes."

"Why? After all this time, why now?" He asked, his face turning purple with rage.

Minerva was having trouble controlling her anger, the nerve of them considering her a freak. "I thought he was dead. I was told he died with his parents. Evidently, I was lied to. May I speak to Harry?"

"Will others come?" he asked.

"No. I think it will be safer for him, and you, if no one else knows he is here, if it is him."

"Oh, it's him alright. Dumbledore dropped him off here in the middle of the night. Said he had to stay. I'd rather he was anywhere but here." Vernon was grumbling by the time he was done.

"May I speak to him?" Petunia went to the front door.

"Boy! Get in here now." She screamed.

When Petunia returned, she was followed by the boy she had seen working in the flower garden.

"That can't be Harry, He's only eight maybe nine years old. Harry's ten." Minerva exclaimed.

"I just turned ten, ma'am." Harry said.

She couldn't believe her eyes. She thought '**They don't want him here. Could I take him away? Where could I take him and keep him safe? I need time to plan.**

"Harry, are you happy here?"

He looked at his aunt and uncle, but refused to answer. His fear was evident. She had her answer. She had to find away to get him away from here.

"I found out what I came for. I will be in touch." She said as she got up to leave.

When she returned to the castle, Minerva pored over the list of future students. There had to be someone out there that might be able to help. She knew she couldn't bring him into the magical world yet. She needed a non-magical family. Then, she found them, a family named Granger. They lived just outside London. She needed to find out more about them. Minerva had many friends in the Muggle world and she called in some favors. One such friend was a solicitor she knew would be discreet.

John Gulliver owed Minerva big time and after she told him what she wanted but not why, he told her he would not consider this as a payment on an old debt. Child abuse was one of his biggest hatreds.

John Gulliver had some of his associates do background checks and went to the Granger residence three days later.

"Hello, my name is John Gulliver. I'm a solicitor and would like to talk to you if you have the time."

Dan Granger held out his hand and invited John into his home.

"This is my wife Emma and my daughter Hermione. What can we do for you Mr. Gulliver?" Dan said as they entered the living room of their two story Victorian home.

"A friend of mine is looking for a family that might accept another child in their home."

"And what makes you think that we would be interested?" Dan asked.

"I've been checking you and your family out for the last couple of days, talked to friends and associates. You and I have one thing in common. We hate child abuse."

Dan and Emma shared a look and nodded.

"I assume you're looking to place an abused child. Why us? Why not family services?" Emma asked.

"I don't know all the details, but from what I can gather, this is a rather special child and we don't want to lose him in the system."

"You said 'him' so I can assume we're talking abut a boy." John nodded his head. "How old?"

"My friend says he just turned ten."

"What else can you tell us about him?"

"That's all I really know except he is in bad shape and really needs a home."

"Daddy?" his daughter asked.

"Yes sweetheart?"

"You need to do this."

"And why is that Hermione?"

"You always talk about how you hate child abuse and you help out at the local center. Wouldn't it be better to go all the way just once?" She asked.

Emma looked at her daughter. The sincerity in her eyes said she had deep feelings about this and she was proud of her. "Dan, perhaps she's right, maybe we should see first hand what it's like to deal with it first hand. See what it's really like for these kids."

Dan knew that if both the women in his life ganged up on him, he didn't stand a chance.

"When can we meet the boy and how difficult will it be to bring him to us? What are the legal complications? What will it cost us in legal fees?"

"This is Wednesday; I think we can have him here to meet you this weekend. Is that soon enough? I will wave my fees on this one, as a favor to my friend."

"That will be fine. I'll be sure and clear our calendar so that we are free this weekend."

"Good, I'll contact my friend and set things up and see you Saturday morning, say around ten."

"That sounds good. We'll see you Saturday." Dan stood and shook John's hand and showed him to the door.

When he returned to the living room, his daughter gave him a big hug.

"Thank you Daddy. I don't know why, but I think you may have just changed my life."

"Why do you say that, Hermione?"

"I don't know really. It's just a feeling that I have."

That evening John wrote a letter.

Dear Minerva,

I met with the people we talked about and they are willing to meet. They check out and they all agree in principle with what little I could tell them. Nice home, clean, well to do, but not rich. Perfect from what I could see. Will meet 18 at 10.

Your friend,

John

He tied the note to his owl's leg. "Make sure Minerva is alone." He said to his owl and released it out his window.

The following evening his owl returned with a message.

John,

Will meet you on 18 at 9. Will use your transport.

Minerva

The wheels were set in motion; now all he could do is wait, and wonder who is this boy that his old friend has taken such an interest in.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$4

Saturday morning at half eight found Minerva McGonagall knocking at the door at #4 Privet Dr. once more.

"Who is it?" a weak voice called out.

"Minerva McGonagall. I wish to speak with your aunt and uncle."

"Answer the door 'Boy'." Vernon bellowed.

Harry opened the door. "Follow me please." She was shocked to see a new bruise on Harry's left cheek.

She followed him down the hallway to the kitchen, were she found the Dursleys eating breakfast. From what she could see, the males of the house ate more than two normal people each. Harry was still cooking.

When Vernon saw who it was, he nearly chocked. "What are you doing back here? I thought we were rid of you and your kind?"

"I've come to make you a deal." She said. '**Even if it doesn't work out with the Grangers, there is no way Harry is coming back here.'**

"What sort of deal?" Vernon asked between bites.

"Harry will come with me, never to return and when the solicitor shows up with the papers you will sign them. In return, we will not prosecute you for child abuse."

Harry nearly dropped the platter of fresh biscuits at hearing this.

"Idle threats. They won't prosecute us anyway."

"How do you know they won't?"

"Dumbledore said he would take of it. Family services come, they look, they leave, and we don't hear any more until the next time they visit."

"I see." She paused to think this over. "Alright, Harry still leaves with me, you say nothing to anyone, and you get to live." She said flatly.

All three Dursleys chocked on that statement.

"You wouldn't dare." Petunia said.

"Try me." She said with a feral grin that had them all backing up.

"Harry, pack your things. We're leaving, now."

Harry looked at his relatives. The fear on their faces put a small smile on his face. He walked down the hall a short ways and opened the cupboard under the stairs.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Minerva asked.

"Getting my stuff like you told me."

She looked into the cupboard as Harry retrieved his blanket and a few colors. As he backed out, she asked, "Is that all you have?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Was this your room?"

"Yes ma'am."

Minerva fought hard to keep her temper. '**When the papers are signed, they will be getting some visitors. What's left of the Marauders will want them to pay dearly for this**.'

"Come Harry, we have people to see." Harry walked along side Minerva to the park where she could apparate safely to John's house.

"Harry, do you know anything about magic?"

"Huh? Are you a magician? I always wanted to see a magic show."

"No, Harry. I'm not a magician." Harry's face fell. "Harry, I'm a witch. And you young man, are a wizard."

"Witches and wizards only exist in stories." Harry looked at her in disbelief.

"Harry, I can assure you, we are quite real."

"Can you show me some magic?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes Harry, as a matter of fact we will use magic to reach our next destination."

"Cool!"

"Hold on to my arm. You will feel a little strange, but it's nothing to be afraid of, just hold on."

At exactly 9:00, there was a pop in John Gulliver's living room.

"Minerva is that you?" a voice called out.

"Yes, John, it's me." She replied turning in the direction of the voice, her wand in hand.

John came out of the hallway, a gun in his hand. "What is the debt I owe you?"

"Your daughter's life."

"Sorry, Minerva, can't be too cautious you know."

"That's quite alright John. This is Harry Potter, the young man I need your help with."

"Potter. Why does that name ring a bell?"

"You worked with his Parents once."

"But…they all died." He said as he looked at Harry.

"No John, we were told that, but it's not true. Unfortunately, I can't tell you more than that now. We need to meet this family we talked about. There are things that I must tell them. If they can accept what I tell them and still want Harry, then things can continue the way we talked about. If not, I need to make other arrangements."

They got into John's car and made the forty-five minute drive to the Granger residence. Harry could only look on in awe. The homes in Surrey all looked a like, but here, though they were similar in design, but every house was unique. Some had balconies on the second floor. Others had verandas all the way around the ground floor. The gardens were as different as the houses. As they approached the house in front of them, Harry could feel a difference. He didn't know what it was, but it was a nice feeling.

When they got to the front door, John knocked and a middle-aged man answered. Harry looked closely at the man. He was well built and Harry was just a little bit frightened of him. Vernon was big and fat, but he could still put a lot of power in a punch or swing of a belt. This man could do some serious damage if he hit Harry, so he shrunk behind Minerva.

Seeing this, Minerva turned and said, "You don't need to be afraid, Harry. No one will hurt you. You have my word."

"Mr. Granger, this is the friend I was telling you about, Minerva McGonagall. May we come in?" John said as they waited.

"Please, do come in. I'll let my wife and daughter know you're here." Dan said as he led the group into the living room.

A few minutes later, he returned with his wife and daughter. "This is my wife Emma and my daughter Hermione."

"My name is Minerva McGonagall and this young man is Harry Potter. Now before we go much further, there are things I need to find out from Harry, and there are things that you should know before you accept Harry into your home."

Hermione walked over, stood in front of Harry, and held out her hand. "My name is Hermione. Nice to meet you Harry."

Harry looked between her hand and her face, unsure what to do. No one ever offered their hand to Harry before.

"Harry the polite thing to do when someone offers their hand in friendship is to shake it." Minerva said.

He looked at the woman. "Are you sure? No one has ever done that before because it's not safe for them."

"What do you mean, Harry?" she asked.

"At school, if someone wanted to be my friend, Dudley would beat them up."

The adults in the room looked mortified.

"Who is Dudley?" asked Hermione.

"He's my cousin."

"Does he live close by?"

Harry looked at Minerva and John.

"No Harry, he is not close by and he has no idea where you are."

He reached out and clasped her hand. It felt soft, warm, and comforting.

"May I sit next to you?"

Harry just nodded, not knowing why it pleased him that this girl wanted to be close to him. She sat down next to him and took his hand in hers.

"Harry, what do you know about your parents?"

"I have always been told that they were freaks. Lazy lay abouts that died because my father got drunk and had a car accident, killing my mother and leaving me with this scar." Harry lifted his bangs to expose the lightning bolt scar above his right eye. "I don't know why, but I never believed them."

"Is that all you know?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Harry, what I am about to tell you and the rest present, may be hard for you."

He just looked at her. "Why?"

"You and everybody else were lied to." She paused. "Harry, your parents were murdered nine years ago and we were told that you died too. I don't know why, but we were. If I had known you where still alive, as well as some others, you would not have grown up as you did."

"Why would someone want to murder my parents?"

"Do you remember when I told you, you were a wizard when I brought you here?"

"Yes."

Dan interrupted. "What do you mean he's a wizard? They don't exist."

"I'm afraid they do and that's another reason your family was picked to take Harry. You see, I am the Deputy Headmistress of a school for witches and wizards. It is my duty to inform first generation witches and wizards. Harry's name is on that list. If we had known Harry was alive, I wouldn't have paid it any attention."

"Why not?" asked Emma.

"Harry is not a first generation wizard."

"What is a 'first generation wizard'?" asked Emma.

"Are you magical?"

Dan and Emma looked at each other. "No."

"Are your parents?"

"No."

"Do you know anybody in your family that is?"

"No. Why all the questions about us?"

"Because your daughter is a first generation witch."

"**Our daughter is not a witch**." Dan shouted.

"Tell me, has anything happened around here you can't explain, especially if Hermione was upset or very emotional?"

Dan, Emma, and Hermione looked at each other. "Like what?"

"Things being out of place, broken or changing from what they were before?"

"Mom, do you remember that pink dress you bought me and I told you I didn't like pink and the next day it was a light blue?"

Harry just looked at her. "You mean those things happen to you too?"

She looked at him and nodded.

"If this hadn't come up, I would have paid you a visit next summer after Hermione turned eleven and invited her to attend our school."

"Can you show us something?"

She pulled out her wand and with a few flicks of her wand had several objects around the room floating. Another flick and there was another chair in the room.

"Impressive, and you can teach Hermione how to do this?"

"Yes, we can."

"You said Harry wasn't like Hermione, a first generation witch. What did you mean?"

"Harry's father is from a long line of witches and wizards. His mother was like Hermione, a first generation witch."

"Okay, so why were his folks murdered?"

"Harry's parents were the equivalent to a constable. When they died, we were in the midst of a civil war. They were very good at what they did, unfortunately, that made them a target. When the leader of our enemy went after someone personally, they don't usually survive. How Harry did, I don't know. Their house was destroyed. It was quite easy to believe that Harry was dead as well."

"Why do you need our help? Why not take Harry with you?"

"As you heard from Harry, he knows nothing of our world. He was hid away for some reason, but the home he was put in was not a nice home." "How old would you saw Harry is?"

The Grangers looked at Harry, then each other. "Eight, maybe nine."

"I just turned ten the end of July." Which was two days ago interjected Harry.

The Grangers were shocked.

"Years of abuse and neglect have stunted Harry's growth. That is why I brought him here. With luck and some help from trusted friends, we may be able to help Harry overcome most of it. I will have to be careful whom I trust. One of the men that I thought I could trust with my life is the one that lied to us all. Helping Harry will require some binding oaths."

"What do you mean?"

"Any witch or wizard I ask for help will have to swear on their magic not to betray us. If they do and they betray us, they will die. Their magic will kill them."

"Isn't that a little extreme?" Emma asked.

"Since you are non-magicals, you can not make such an oath, but let me ask you this; if you decide to help us, how far would you go to protect your daughter?"

"I would kill who ever threatened my daughter." Dan said forcefully.

"And a defenseless child?"

Dan looked at Harry. "The same."

"I knew and taught Harry's parents. They were remarkable people. As a teacher, we aren't supposed to have favorites, but sometimes you come across a student you just can't help but admire. James and Lilly were two such students."

"You knew my parents?" he asked in awe.

"Yes, Harry I did. James, when he started school was arrogant like many old family wizards, and a bit of a bully. Sometime during his third year, he and his friends turned their talents toward protecting those that couldn't protect themselves. Your mother still didn't approve of their methods, but did understand why they did it. It wasn't until their sixth year that they got together as a couple. They married two years after they left school. You were born a year later. You look like you father except for your eyes. Those are Lilies."

Harry fought to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. Hermione wrapped him in a firm hug. At first, he tensed at the unfamiliar embrace. As he looked into her eyes, he slowly relaxed and turned into the embrace, still fighting to hold back the tears as he had for so many years.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Life with the Grangers

All of the adults had trouble not shedding a tear for the heartbreak evident in Harry.

"Harry, what is it like where you live?" Hermione asked softly.

"What do you mean?" he asked still looking into her chocolate brown eyes.

"How do they treat you? What is your day like?" she asked.

"My aunt wakes me early every morning to fix breakfast. After they eat, I clean up the dishes. Then I either clean the house or go out to tend the gardens or the lawn."

"Do they ever punish you?"

Harry hung his head and looked at his lap, "All the time." He whispered holding back his tears. He had learned it did no good to cry.

"Harry, how did they punish you?" she asked on the verge of tears.

"It depends on what they felt I did wrong."

"Explain please."

"If I burnt part of their breakfast, they would burn me. If I asked questions about my parents, uncle Vernon would punch me. If I talked back or didn't answer, it was the belt. If I got good grades, or better than Dudley, the belt and then locked in my cupboard for days."

"How much did you eat?" she asked, tears leaking from her eyes. He hadn't looked up the whole time.

"A slice of toast here and there, what was left after they finished. If I was bad, I wouldn't get anything for days."

Hesitatingly, Hermione asked, "What did Dudley do to you?"

"When he was younger, he would just punch or kick me. When he got old enough to play cricket, he started using his bat." He replied, rubbing her hand as if to comfort her.

"Good god!" exclaimed Dan. "How in the hell did he survive all that?"

"Hermione, why are you asking these questions?" Emma asked.

"Because we need to know and he needs to know something."

"What does he need to know?"

"I will explain if necessary when I finish. This is hard enough as it is, please do not interrupt?" she looked pleadingly at her mother.

She looked back at Harry. "Harry, have they ever broken any of your bones?"

"Several." He answered simply.

"Have you ever seen a doctor or been to a hospital?"

"No."

"Harry, do you trust me?"

He looked into her eyes. He looked for a long time. "Yes."" He finally said. She had held his hand the whole time.

"Would you take your shirt off for me please?"

"Hermione?" he pleaded.

"It's necessary, Harry. They have to see."

"Why?"

"So far, they only have your word. They need to see the truth."

"If you're sure." She nodded, barely keeping it together.

Harry stood and started to raise his shirt. "I need your help."

Hermione gripped the hem of his shirt and slowly started to raise his shirt.

Emma was the first to head for the loo to throw up.

"That's enough Hermione." Her father said when it was slightly over half way up his back.

"What could leave marks like that?" Dan asked.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Harry said, "A studded belt."

Hermione released his shirt and pulled him to her in a tight, but gentle hug. Neither child could hold their anguish any longer and cried into each other's shoulder and almost falling on the couch.

Dan got up and went upstairs. When he came back, he had a pistol.

"What are you going to do Mr. Granger?" asked Minerva.

"I'm going to kill the Dursleys."

"Perfectus totalus." Minerva said, pointing her wand at Dan Granger. "You will do no such thing. They have a powerful magical ally. We don't want to draw any more attention than necessary. Beside, you don't even know where they live."

After the adults had time to calm down.

"Who else can you trust? And what do you want me to do?" asked John still choked up.

"We need you to handle the non-magic side of things. Child Services, getting the Grangers listed as his guardians. All the legal things that I don't know," said Minerva. "Try not to draw attention."

"There are a few in the magical world that I think I can trust, but as I said, I will require an oath first. There is something strange going on with Harry and I will not take any chances."

"Is there anything we need to do to protect our selves?" Asked Dan.

"Do you have any special training?"

"I was in the SAS and saw action in different parts of the world before I was married. I know a little about weapons, and how to use them. Would any of our security systems work?"

"I doubt it. Without wards to keep them out, they would be inside and alarms would never pick them up until it was too late."

"Who do we need to see about these wards and how much will they cost?"

"I will take care of the wards, but it will take time. If we move too fast, we will draw attention we don't want. In the mean time go about your normal routine. Care for Harry as if he was your own, but keep in mind what he has been through. Adults have not treated him kindly and may not respond to you immediately. Let your daughter help him as much as she can. I know it's a lot to put on her young shoulders, but after what I saw tonight, I think she can handle it."

"She surprised the heck out of me. She was so mature. I don't know how she did it." Emma said.

Harry and Hermione cried themselves to sleep on the couch.

"They look so peaceful right now."

"Yeah, I hate to separate them to put them to bed." Dan said.

"Then don't." said Emma.

"But he's a boy!"

"Yes, a ten year old boy that has been abused beyond belief. I very much doubt he has any idea about the difference between boys and girls."

"John, give me a hand here. I'll take my daughter, and you take Harry. We'll take them up stairs and put them to bed."

It took a little work to separate them with reassurances that they would soon be back together.

"My god! Harry can't weigh more than forty pounds." John exclaimed when he picked him up.

They didn't bother with their clothing as they laid them down in Hermione's bed. As soon as John set Harry on the bed, they were drawn together like magnets searching for each other's embrace.

"Well I never saw anything like that before. Have you?" asked John.

"I doubt married couples or siblings do that. I wonder why?"

Since it had been a long and emotionally draining day, they all decided to call it a day.

The next day, Harry woke before anybody else. He laid there wondering where he was, when he noticed Hermione cuddled up to him. He wasn't sure what to do. He was not used to physical contact that didn't involve pain, but some how knew he was safe with her. He thought about the night before. How had she known about his life? They had just met, but she seemed to know. She knew just what questions to ask and how to get Harry to tell, even though he didn't want to. He was ashamed at the way he lived. He had always thought that was the way things were supposed to be.

Another thing he didn't understand is why he felt better for having told them about his life. He gently removed himself from the girl and looked around the room. It wasn't frilly. It was definitely a girl's room, but two of the walls were covered with bookshelves. He had never seen so many books before except in the school library. He looked at the book titles, some he recognized, but many he didn't.

He made his way out in to the hall. He saw three other doors. He needed to use the loo, but didn't know which door to open. Afraid to open a bedroom door he decided to go down the stairs and hope he could find one down there. As he explored the house, he noticed it was clean, but not sterile like the Dursleys. It felt comfortable, friendly.

Finally finding the loo on the first floor, he relieved himself, washed his hands, scrubbed his face, and continued to explore the house. The last room he found was the kitchen. Programmed as he was, he checked the cupboards for food and utensils to cook breakfast. He had just finished when Emma Granger came down stairs.

"Harry, what are you doing?"

He cringed and backed into a corner, "I'm sorry. Did I do it wrong?"

Realizing how she must have sounded after what she had heard the night before, she moderated her tone. "Of course not Harry. Everything smells wonderful. It's jut that in this house you are not required to cook. That is my job. You wouldn't want to put me out of work would you?" She said with a laugh and smile trying to put him at ease.

She approached him slowly, so as to not frighten him. "Harry, may I hug you?"

He looked at her confused. "Why?"

"To show you that I appreciate what you did this morning."

He was still confused. No one ever appreciated what he did, why did she? "I guess." He said looking at the floor, shuffling his left foot.

Even knowing what she was going to do, he stiffened as Emma gently put her arms around him. "Thank you, Harry. I'll go wake the others so we can eat while it's still warm."

He sat in the corner, more confused than ever. Is this what it's like to have a family?

Hermione was drawn to the kitchen because of the delicious smells of breakfast. She spotted Harry sitting in the corner with unshed tears. She slowly approached Harry and sat on the floor next to him. "Why so sad, Harry."

"Your Mom." he said looking into her eyes.

"What did mom do?" Slightly angry.

"She hugged me and thanked me." He looked at her with confusion. "Why would she do that?"

"Did she say what she was thanking you for?"

"Because I made breakfast. I always make breakfast. It's what I'm supposed to do. Aren't I?" confusion evident in his tone.

She put an arm around him, "Not anymore, Harry. Not anymore."

"Why?"

"Because children aren't supposed to do those kinds of things. That's why stoves are so tall and cupboards are so high. That's what parents are supposed to do. Children like us, are supposed to have fun and learn. I know that you weren't raised to believe these things, so we will have to teach you the way things should have been. The way I'm sure you mum and dad would have wanted."

Dan and Emma had been standing in the doorway listening to their daughter, unshed tears and pride in their eyes. They stepped into the room. "Shall we eat will it's still warm?" Dan asked to let the kids know they were there.

Half way through his breakfast, Harry got up and ran out of the kitchen in the direction of the loo. When he came back, all he would do is drink his juice.

"You can finish eating, Harry."

"I can't." Hermione reached over and held his hand.

"Sure you can Harry. There's plenty here."

"No mum. He really can't, because of the way 'they' treated him, it makes him ill to eat too much." She looked at him in sorrow. "It will take awhile for him to get used to eating like the rest of us."

"Sweetheart, how is it you know so much, especially were Harry is concerned?" asked her father.

She looked directly at her father. "Your work at the center for abused children prompted me to read up on the subject. One of the main things abused children suffer from is malnutrition. According to what I read, children that suffer from this have trouble eating. It takes time for them to change eating habits. As for Harry, what I know or suspect, I can't explain really. When I hold his hand, it's like I can see and feel Harry in my mind. All I know for sure, is that buried deep inside Harry, is a caring and loving person, someone worth caring for. We just have to help him realize it and draw it out."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Learning about Family

After they had finished breakfast, Harry started to gather the dishes. "No, Harry." Emma said causing Harry to drop the dishes in his hands. Harry's automatic defenses kicked in. He raised his arms to protect his head and backed into a corner to limit where the blows would come from.

"I'm sorry. I'll clean it up. I didn't mean to break them." Fear evident in his voice but not a tear from his eyes.

"Mother!" Hermione scolded her mother. She slowly approached Harry in his corner.

"Harry. It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong." She said softly as she approached.

Harry lowered his arms enough to look at her; her hand out stretched, palm up in a non-threatening way. He looked up into her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Harry. I'm very sure. Come here, please?" She held her arms wide, inviting him to enter her embrace.

Slowly lowering his arms, he stepped towards her. He entered the space of her arms and let her close them around him. He put his arms around her waist. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, Harry. You are not in trouble."

"But I broke the dishes."

"That was mums fault. Harry, you are a unique individual here and it seems that we all have some things to learn. Do you remember what I said this morning when you couldn't understand why mum hugged you?"

"Yes."

"You were told that it is your job to do certain things. I was taught just the opposite. Mum is the one that taught me and when she saw you start to do something that she felt was not your responsibility. She was trying to tell you, you didn't have to do that. The problem is she forgot how you were raised and you thought she was scolding you as if you had done something wrong."

Emma approached to two children making sure not to move quickly and staying in Harry's line of sight. She knelt next to the pair. "Harry, I'm sorry I startled you. I was just trying to tell you, you didn't have to do the dishes. It is going to take a while for both of us to get used to each other, but know this Harry, I care for you and would not dream of harming you intentionally."

"Can you forgive me?"

Harry looked at her in total confusion. In his world, adults never asked for forgiveness. Adults did no wrong, only he did anything wrong.

Emma could see the confusion in his eyes. "Harry, you are in a different world now. In this world, the real world, adults do make mistakes, and when we do, we ask for forgiveness."

Harry looked to Hermione for guidance. She simply nodded. "I forgive you. Will you forgive me?" he pleaded.

Emma looked to her daughter, who nodded. "Yes, Harry, I forgive you." She held her arms out as her daughter had for Harry to enter. Hesitantly, Harry stepped away from Hermione and into Emma's arms. She embraced him in a firm but gentle hug. After just a moment, she released him and said, "Now why don't you two go find something fun to do?"

"What would you like to do Harry?"

Harry stood there and thought. "Are the books in your room yours?" She nodded. "Can I read them? There are a lot of books there I hadn't seen before."

"You can read any book in the house, unless you are specifically told differently." She took his hand and led him to her room. "Pick any book you like and if you need help with a word, don't be afraid to ask for help. If I don't know it or can't find the meaning, we can always ask mum or dad."

Harry looked at the books, studying the titles. "Hermione, do you have any books on magic?"

"Not yet. Maybe we can ask McGonagall about getting some the next time she visits."

He continued to look at the book titles to see what his 'Angel' liked to read. Her books covered a ride variety of subjects: history, math, science, and literature. He also noted some science fiction, and fantasy. Knights in armor, wizards, and dragons. "What do think about being a witch?" he asked without thought.

"I don't know. As you can see, I have fantasized about it, but never thought it was real." She responded with a far away look.

Harry finally picked a book on history and settled down on the floor to read. He skimmed through the book, looking for points of interest, stopping at certain sections to read more thoroughly. He closed the book and replaced it on the shelf when Emma called them for lunch. Since it was Sunday, Dan was home as well.

Harry sat at the table deep in thought as he ate. Dan noticed and asked, "What's bothering you, Harry?"

"Why do people go to war?"

"That would depend on what side of the conflict you are on. Initially, wars usually start when one group or nation tries to force another to their way of life."

Harry thought about this for a minute. "Have you ever gone to war?"

"Yes." He said somberly.

"Why?"

"To protect the innocent."

Harry just looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Harry, war is a nasty business. Sometimes you have to do things you're not proud of. You have to live with the nightmares for a long time. What I did was horrible, taking a life always is, but I did it for what I believe were the right reasons. I believe that I'm a good man. I believe that as long as a man that has to kill in defense of others and regrets it every time he does is not a bad person. When they start to like it, or don't feel anything anymore, they are lost. I got out because I didn't want to take another life."

Harry looked at the table for a moment, and then he looked at Emma. "Mrs. Granger? Did you know this about him?"

"I don't know the details Harry, but I do know about the nightmares. He still has them every now and then."

"How do you deal with them?"

"I hold him tight and tell that everything will be all right."

He looked at Hermione, "Will you do that for me?"

To say the Grangers were shocked by his question would be putting it mildly. "Harry, why would you ask such a question?" asked Emma.

"I don't know really. I read one of Hermione's history books. I remember what Mrs. McGonagall said about my parents. Someone out there wants me dead. That means that I may have to kill to protect myself or others. If what Mr. Granger said is true, I'll probably have nightmares too. At least I hope so."

"Aren't you a little young for such deep thought?" asked Emma.

"Maybe."

"May I go outside?" He asked.

"Sure Harry, but please stay in the yard. We wouldn't want you to get lost."

Harry went out to the backyard and drifted, looking at the flowerbeds, stopping occasionally to pull a weed here and there. He would often stop and smell a flower. Sometimes he would just take a deep breathe. Dan and Emma watched him through the kitchen window.

"He looks so lost."

"He is." Hermione said. "He not used to being able to just wonder. You heard him last night. He worked from the time he got up in the morning until he went to bed."

"We need to buy him some clothes and swim wear. Do you think he knows how to swim?"

"I seriously doubt it mum." Hermione slipped out the backdoor and joined Harry. She slipped her hand in his as he walked around the yard.

"Mum and dad want to take you and but some clothes and swimwear. Would you mind?"

"I have no money." He said dejectedly.

"So? You're part of the family now. They won't mind. Then we can teach you how to swim. Would you like that?"

"That would be great!"

"Come on then, let's go shopping."

Meanwhile in Southeast Scotland.

"Hello Andi. May I come in?"

"Minerva, what are you doing here?" The woman exclaimed. "Of course, come in, come in." Andi was a woman in her mid-forties, average height, black hair and the air of nobility about her.

They entered the small kitchen and sat. "It's been a long time Minerva, What brings you to this neck of the country? Dora not in trouble is she?"

"School has been out for a month, Andi. No, she is not in trouble. Where is she by the way?"

"Out with some friends. What's up Mini? You didn't come out here for gossip."

"To tell the truth, I need your help."

"You know you can count on me for anything. What do you need?"

"Andi," she paused, "this is very serious business, and I don't know how dangerous it might be."

"Go on." Andi said, curiosity spiked.

"Before I can tell you anything, I need an oath from you."

The woman called Andi looked at her. "Mini, what are you into?"

Minerva shook her head, "I can't say without an oath. You know me; I wouldn't ask if this wasn't serious."

"What oath?"

"That you will not repeat what you learn today to anybody. Not your husband, not your daughter, nobody, in any way shape or form."

The woman drew her wand, pointed it at the ceiling, "I, Andromeda Tonks nee Black, swear on my life and magic not to discuss what I learn from Minerva McGonagall this day with anybody without her leave to do so, so mote it be."

"Now what is so important to need such an oath?"

"I need a healer for a very special patient. You can not discuss him at all."

"Who and where?"

"Harry Potter."

Andi laughed. "I never figured you for a prankster, Mini." Mini never moved. Her features never changed. Andi looked at her. "You're serious aren't you?"

"Deadly serious. I need you to treat him where he is. He is with a first generation family. I know you know how to deal with a family like this because of Ted."

"How bad is he?"

"I don't know. He hides his injuries. He has had numerous broken bones that were never treated. I saw his back, or at least part of it. It was horrible. I don't know how he stood it."

"Who did this Mini?"

"I can't tell you yet. We have things in the works to try to help him, but if anything happens to the ones that did this to him, we will be exposed before we are ready. Someone in our world is protecting them."

"What do I need to bring with me?"

"I'm not a healer Andi. You will have to examine him yourself and decide for yourself."

"When can I see him?"

"Are you free tomorrow? I need to talk to the family and let them know that you are coming."

"Yes, I don't have any patients to see tomorrow."

"I'll go see them an owl you what time I'll be here to take you there. It may be late."

"I'll wait for your owl."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Don't own Harry just this plot. Tissue alert. To: The Dain, Yes Hermione is very mature here for a reason. Harry needs a cross between childhood and the adult world. She will have fun soon.

Chapter 4: Complications

The Granger's and Harry Potter went to the local shopping center to get Harry some new clothes. What he was wearing was all he had and they were way too big for him. It was a new experience for Harry. He had never been out of #4 except to go to school. The shopping center was full of wondrous things. This was a new world for him and he didn't know where to look. Hermione held his hand as they made their way to the clothing store. They all watched as his head and eyes were I constant motion, trying to take everything in at once.

From what they had learned, this was probably his first trip to a store and didn't want to embarrass him, so they said nothing. They wore sad smiles as they watched. Upon reaching a clothing store just for children, Hermione said, "Harry, this is where I get all my clothes and is where we will get yours. I'm sure you will like it as I do."

Harry looked around and all he could see were racks and racks of clothes. He released Hermione's hand and walked over to a rack of shirts that looked to be of the size he was wearing.

"Harry," Emma asked softly, not wanting to startle him, "why are you looking at those shirts?"

"Because they're like what I have on." He replied with a puzzled look.

"Wouldn't you rather have clothes that fit you better?" she asked.

"I don't deserve better." He said sadly.

"Yes you do Harry. As long as you live with us, you will have better clothes and your own toys and books too."

"Why? I'm a freak and don't deserve my own stuff." He said dejectedly.

"Harry, that was the opinion of your aunt and uncle. We don't believe that for one second. From what we have seen, you are a wonderful boy and we will treat you the same way we treat Hermione. Now then let's see if we can find something that you like that fits."

They made their way over to small boy's clothes and started holding up different shirts to see if they might fit as well as pants and shorts. After they had gathered several outfits, they looked for a changing room to make sure they fit. When they couldn't find one, the asked a store employee where they could find one.

"We don't have one for boys, you would have to go to the girls section on the other side of the store." the older woman said.

"That's just silly. Why don't you have one for boys?"

"I don't know. I found it strange myself, but the manager said 'that's the way it has always been'. I guess they figure boys aren't as modest."

"Well Harry is modest and we will go to the girl's side so he can try on his new clothes."

The store employee noticed the size of Harry's clothes and his size. She had seen neglected children before and thought it odd that these people didn't want to have him try his new clothes the way most did. She watched as they walked across the store and noticed Harry's nervousness and decided to do something about it. She called the local constabulary.

When they reached the changing rooms, Hermione asked, "Harry, will you need help with your shirts?"

"No Hermione I'm feeling much better today. I think I can manage on my own, but you'll be close by if I need help, won't you?"

"Yes, Harry. I'll be right outside the door if you need me."

Harry took the clothes and was busy trying them on and showing Hermione and her mom how they looked on him when two Bobbies entered the store. They spoke with the sales woman that put in the call. She pointed to the Grangers over in the girl's department. Harry had just stepped out when the officers approached.

"Good afternoon." The male officer greeted them. "We had a call about possible child neglect. A sales woman pointed you out to us. Would you mind answering some questions?"

This was one thing that they hadn't expected and were suddenly very nervous. The officers noticed their sudden nervousness and were sure that they had child abusers.

"Not at all officers, but could we pay for our purchases first? Young Harry needs the clothes." Dan asked.

"I don't see any reason why not." The female officer said.

"Harry, leave those clothes on and they can just get the prices off the tags. There's no need to put those old clothes back on."

They went to the front of the store to pay for the clothing. After that was taken care of, Dan asked, "Now where do you want to talk?"

The male officer asked the man at the check out to call for the manager.

When he arrived, the male officer asked, "May we use your office for a little while? We would like to ask these people some questions and don't want to embarrass them by taking them to the station."

"Not at all officers, right this way." And led them to the back of the store.

Harry was scared and clung to Hermione. "What's going on Hermione?"

"I don't know Harry. Maybe the sales woman we talked to earlier called them." She said, biting her lower lip.

"Why would she do that?"

"I don't know. Just try not to worry, please?"

Once they reached the managers office they thanked him for his time and said they would handle it from there.

"My name is Michel Walker and my partner is Melanie Goodman. You are?"

"Dr. Daniel Granger, this is my wife Dr. Emma Granger. We're dentist and this is our daughter, Hermione. The young man is Harry Potter."

"Harry is not your son?"

"No."

"May I ask why he is with you today?"

"A solicitor friend of ours asked us to look after him for a while." Not the whole truth, but not a lie either.

"Why would he do that?"

Dan looked at Harry. "I'm not at liberty to say."

"And why not?"

"It's complicated officer. If I may, I want to get my wallet."

"Go ahead."

Dan reached into his jacket and removed his wallet. After finding he appropriate card, he handed to the officer. "Call him; he should be able to tell you what you want to know. I'll need that card back."

The whole time that they had been talking, Harry was hugging Hermione as if she was a lifeline and was afraid to let go. Melanie had been watching him and had to ask, "Harry is it?" He nodded. "Why are you clinging to that girl?"

"She's my friend and I'm afraid."

"What are you afraid of, Harry?" she asked in a soothing voice.

"That you will take me away from her." He looked pleadingly into Hermione's eyes.

"Hermione, why would he be afraid we would take him from you? Aren't you his family?"

Hermione looked at her father; she couldn't lie could she?

"No, officer he isn't." Dan said saving his daughter from lying. "Call John Gulliver and let him explain. Like I said it's complicated."

"I think we need to take this to the station if we going to involve a solicitor."

They walked through the store and out to the street where the patrol car was parked. "We all can't fit in our patrol car. The boy will go with us. Can you be trusted to follow us?"

"Of course officer."

Hermione declared. "I'm going with Harry."

"Will you wait for us to get our car?" asked Dan. Officer Walker nodded his head as he helped Harry and Hermione get in his vehicle.

It was a ten-minute drive to the station. On the way, Officer Goodman used the radio to have them call John Gulliver to come to the station to save time.

"Hello." John said into his phone.

"This is Officer O'Hara at the Stanford Hill Station. I was instructed to call you on behalf of the Grangers."

"Why would they need you to call me? Have they been in an accident? Are they hurt?" he asked anxiously.

"No, they are being brought in for questioning for child abuse."

To say John was shocked was an understatement. Everything he had found out about the Grangers said just the opposite. "Are you sure you got the name right?"

"That's the name we got over the radio."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. It'll be at least a half hour."

"We'll wait for you."

John immediately got some parchment and wrote a note to Minerva; attached it to his owl. "Find Mini fast. Make sure she is alone." Little did he know that she was just about to go to the Granger residence.

The two constables, Harry and the Grangers entered the station. The officers then tried to separate Harry from the Grangers. He held tightly to Hermione screaming "No. Don't leave me."

"Please officer. Please let me stay with him? He's frightened enough as it is." Pleaded Hermione.

"Okay, but your parents will have to wait in another room while we question him." She nodded her head.

The children were put in a room by themselves. It contained a table and four chairs and what looked like a mirror on one wall. They sat in the chairs on one side of the table away from the mirror.

"What's going on Mione?" fear evident in his voice.

"I don't know Harry, but I'm afraid too." She said as she clung to him as hard as he was clinging to her.

It wasn't long until Officer Goodman and another woman entered the room "This is Mrs. Sullivan. She is with child services and wants to talk to Harry."

Mrs. Sullivan sat across the table from them and set her briefcase on the table. She opened it and retrieved a folder and a pad of paper. "Now then, what are your names?"

"I'm Hermione Granger and this is Harry Potter."

"Miss Granger, let Harry speak for himself please." "Now Harry, who are your parents?"

"I don't know." He answered in a small voice.

"Why don't you know?"

"I was told they died."

"Who do you live with?"

"My aunt and uncle."

"What are their names?"

He thought about this for a moment. "Vernon and Petunia Dursley I think."

"Why did you have to think about their names?"

"I was never allowed to use their names, just aunt or uncle."

"Why are you with the Grangers?"

"Because they're nice to me."

"Aren't your aunt and uncle nice to you?"

Harry looked to Hermione. "Don't prompt him Miss Granger."

"I'm not prompting him. He's afraid to answer you."

"Why would he be afraid to answer the question?"

"Because he's been abused and grown-ups have not helped him before."

"Surely child services have checked on him before."

"They may have, but they never did anything to help him."

"How can you be sure?" asked Officer Goodman.

"How old would you say Harry is?"

"He looks to be eight or nine."

"Harry, tell her how old you are."

"I just turned ten July 31st." Shock was evident on her face.

"Harry, how much do you eat?" asked Mrs. Sullivan.

"Now or before?"

"What's the difference?"

"Since I've been with the Grangers, I get to eat as much as I can handle."

"And before?"

He hung his head as he answered. "Table scraps if I've been good."

"And if you haven't been good?"

"Nothing for days." He said looking at the floor.

"What was your life like at home?"

He looked pleadingly at Hermione. "Please don't make me do it again?"

"They need to know Harry. It may help us keep you from going there ever again."

"What is he talking about Miss Granger?"

"He was treated like a slave. Forced to work from morning till night, cooking, cleaning, the yard work. Beaten if he doesn't do it right or if he asks questions they don't want to answer."

"How do you know all this?"

"He told us."

"How do you know he's not lying to you?"

"Harry."

"No." he said shaking his head trying hard not to cry. "No, Hermione. Please?"

"We have to if they are going to believe you're not lying."

"Is there no other way?"

"I'm sorry Harry. I don't think so."

"What's going on Miss Granger?" asked Mrs. Sullivan.

"I want to show you the proof of what we say. Harry is a shamed of what was done to him, even if it wasn't his fault. They taught him to believe he was worthless. I believe differently."

"Harry, you have to show her your back." Harry stood reluctantly and turned around.

"Will you do it Hermione?"

"Yes Harry, for you I will."

"I haven't seen his back and will not look now. Since you have that mirror there, I will close my eyes. You should know that my mother got quite ill seeing it." She stood in front of Harry and took hold of the hem of his shirt. She closed her eyes and started to lift his shirt. When she had it half way up his back.

"That's enough Miss Granger." Both women quickly exited the room.

"Sorry Harry." She said as she hugged him close to her. "They had to know."

"I know. It's just that it feels strange after all this time for people to start to care about me."

A short while later, Officer Goodman returned. "Mrs. Sullivan is calling her office to find out how this could happen."

Meanwhile John Gulliver showed up and was led to the room the elder Grangers were waiting in. "What's going on Dan?"

"I wish I knew John. We decided to take Harry out to get some clothes and the next thing we knew, two constables were asking questions about Harry and here we are. Who would have thought a simple thing like buying him clothes would be so much trouble."

"Where's Harry?"

"They took him and Hermione to another room to ask him some questions."

"They can't do that without a child advocate present." John fumed. "I'll be right back. I need to now what's going on so I know what to do."

An hour later, Mrs. Sullivan entered the room with Harry and Hermione. "Come with me please. We are going to rejoin your parents."

When they were all in the same room, Mrs. Sullivan began.

"I made some phone calls after I talked to Harry and Miss Granger. There are no records of Harry being adopted, or legally placed in any home in London. There are no records of visits to a family named Dursley. Harry, do you know the address where you lived?"

"#4 Privet Drive, Surrey."

"Did you go to school?"

"Yes."

"Did the teachers ever say anything to you, or ask you about your home life?"

He thought for a while. "One teacher did and then she suddenly left the school."

"I think I have enough for now." Mrs. Sullivan said. "Mr. Granger, until we can figure out what is going on, would you be willing to continue to look after Mr. Potter?"

"Absolutely. He hasn't been with us long, but I don't think I could separate him from my daughter if I wanted to."

"Mr. Gulliver, you have my card, if I can be of any help, or if you have any information that will help Mr. Potter, be sure and give me a call."

As they left the station, John said, "I'll follow you home. I sent a message to Minerva and expect her to be at your house soon."

It was six in the evening when they finally entered their home. Minerva was waiting on them.

"Hello, Mini."John said. "You got here faster then I expected. Have you been waiting long?"

"I've been here about an hour. Imagine my surprise when your owl found me here."

John was puzzled. "Why were you here instead of at school?"

"I come to make arrangements to have a healer look at Mr. Potter. Now tell me what has happened."

"Dan will you fill her in while I see about making dinner?" said Emma.

For the next half hour, they explained about the shopping trip, the police, and the social service worker.

Minerva rubbed her temples. "I was hoping not to draw attention. Who would have thought a simple thing would get so complicated?"

"My thoughts exactly. If I had known, we would have just bought him some clothes and hoped he liked them, but we thought it would do him good to get out."

"We'll just have to hope for the best. Now for the reason I came here. I asked a close friend of mine that I trust, to come here tomorrow and check Harry's health. She's a witch and can do things muggle medicine can't. She has given me her oath so she can be trusted."

"What time will she be here?"

"Would nine in the morning be too early?"

"No. We normally are at our practice by eight. Should one of us be here?"

"If you think it will make Harry feel better, it would probably be best if one of you were here."

"Monday is usually a slow day. I'll just tell the staff Hermione wasn't feeling well and Emma stayed home with her."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Mental and emotional wounds are the hardest to heal. They take time, so from time to time they will pop up in this story. They will eventually heal. I just don't know when. JKR owns most of the characters. I write for fun.**

Chapter 5: Healing Begins.

Emma led Harry and Hermione upstairs to the guest room. He was amazed when they told him that this would be his room as long as he lived here. Emma and Hermione helped him remove the price tags and put away his new clothes.

In the middle of the night, Harry woke up disoriented and alone. The moon shown brightly through his bedroom window. After a few minutes, he remembered where ha was and made his way to the door. He remembered which door was Hermione's and walked to it. He knocked softly and waited. Hermione eventually opened the door.

"Harry, what is it?"

"I'm scared. Could I sleep with you again?" he asked quietly.

"Sure Harry. Come on." She took his hand and led him to her bed. She got in first and held the cover up for him to crawl in.

"What are you afraid of, Harry?"

"I don't know, being alone I guess. After being so close to you since I got here, I got used to it and not being close frightened me, I guess." He said as he cuddle close, holding her.

"We can't have you being afraid, now can we?" she said as she wrapped her arms around him protectively. This was how the elder Grangers found them the next morning.

Dan Granger was not a happy man. In his mind, he knew that they were too young to do anything and that Harry's mental state probably made it impossible for the boy to understand the implications of the situation, but he was a father and there was a boy in his daughter's bed. His consciousness was at war with what he knew for a fact and the protective nature of all fathers. Fortunately, for him, and Harry, logic won out and he got his emotions under control.

"It is going to take time for me to get used to that," he said.

"I know, but we have years to worry about them, don't we?" Emma replied lightheartedly.

"I hope. Well let's get them up so they're ready when Mini and her friend get here."

"Are you going to be alright here by yourself?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Why don't you start breakfast and I'll get the kids up."

"Okay." Emma replied and left to start breakfast.

Dan approached the bed and had to admit to himself that they looked cute together. Then in a soft voice, "Harry, Hermione; it's time to get up." When they didn't stir, he gently shook Harry's shoulder. "Harry, it's time to get up son."

Harry slowly opened his eyes and realized were he was. He rolled over on his back, looked up at Dan, and jerked up. "Did I oversleep?"

"No, Harry. You didn't over sleep." He said with a smile on his face. "We need to wake Hermione and get ready. You have a busy day ahead."

"If you don't mind my asking, why are you in Hermione's bed?"

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No Harry. I'm just curious, that's all."

Harry dropped his head. "I woke up alone and was scared."

"What were you afraid of?" he asked gently.

"I got used to being with Hermione and was afraid she would leave me and I would have to go back."

Dan gently places a hand on Harry's shoulder, "Harry, we will not make you go back there. We are working very hard to make sure that doesn't happen." He paused. "Harry do you trust us?"

"I trust Hermione, she trust you." He said as if that explained everything.

"Why do you trust Hermione?"

Harry looked at Hermione, "I don't know. Some how she knows me in ways I don't understand. It's as if she can see inside of me, ya know. Even though she had me tell things that I would rather not have, I trust her not to hurt me."

Dan didn't understand it either. He knew his daughter was intelligent, but hers had been a lonely life with no brothers or sisters. Not that he and Emma hadn't tried. It just wasn't in the cards for them to have another. She was a caring girl. She had often told of how she tried to help her classmates, but they just didn't know how to relate to her. They wound up picking on her; she didn't have any friends. That was another thing that bothered him about this whole situation, why Harry? Why a boy that she hadn't met until a few days ago? What was so special about Harry? How did this boy with such a tragic life, wind up in their home? So many questions and no answers.

"Well, like I said, it's time to get up and get ready for the day. Minerva will be here before long and you want to be ready." Dan got up and left the room.

"Hermione, Hermione, it's time to get up." He said softly.

"I'm awake, Harry. Have been for a while." She propped her head on one hand and looked at Harry. "I was listening to you and dad talk. I didn't want you to stop because of me."

"Why?"

"I want you two to get to know each other, to understand each other."

With a puzzled look, he asked again, "Why?"

"Harry, there are a lot of things we don't know about you yet, but we do know that you have not had a happy life. My parents and Mrs. McGonagall want to see that end and they are working to make that happen. If they do, then you will be living here with us. You will have to learn to trust my parents because of who they are, not just because of me. Do you understand?"

"How is it you know me?"

"What do you mean, Harry?"

"I don't know. It just seems as if you can get inside my head. You seem to know the worst of me and it doesn't bother you. How did you know about the beatings and all the rest? It's something that I learned to hide, but some how you knew. How?"

"I don't really know, Harry. I was drawn to you when you first came into our home. It's as if we were meant to be together."

"We better get dressed, I smell breakfast." She said.

Harry went to his room to dress. He was bewildered. He now had so many clothes he didn't know what to wear. He settled for a pair of khaki shorts, a plain white tee shirt, ankle socks, and his new trainers.

When he entered the kitchen for breakfast, Emma commented, "My, don't we look handsome this morning?" Which made Harry blush.

When breakfast was finished, Hermione asked Harry if he wanted to walk around the pool while they waited for their guest to arrive.

After they were outside, Dan said, "She doesn't usually go outside this early. Why did she today?" he asked Emma.

"I think it was to avoid another incident like yesterday."

"Oh." He kissed his wife on the cheek. "Well, I'm of to the clinic. If I run into any problems I'll call and let you know. You call me if you run into any problems too."

"Of curse. I'll see you tonight."

After she finished cleaning up after breakfast, Emma stepped out into the back yard to watch the kids. It was heart warming just to watch them walking around, holding each other's hand. It wasn't long until she heard a couple of pops in the house, assuming it was Mini, she went in the house to great her and the person she was brining to heal Harry.

"Good morning Mini. How are you today?"

"Good morning, Emma. I feel just fine, thank you for asking. This," she indicated the woman at her side, "is Andromeda Tonks. She is a healer and can be trusted." "Where is Harry?"

"He and Hermione are out back. Shall I call them in?"

"If you don't mind, I would like to observe him first." Said Andromeda.

They followed Emma out back and watched as Harry and Hermione strolled around the yard.

"How old did you say Harry was?" Andromeda asked.

"He just turned ten the end of July." Minerva said.

Andromeda just shook her head. She noticed right off that Harry was almost a head shorter then the girl he walked along side. "And how old is the girl?"

"Hermione will turn eleven in September." Replied Emma.

"What else can you tell me beside malnutrition?"

"Hideous scars from whippings, broken bones, emotional and mental abuse. Truth be told, after seeing his back, I don't know how he survived." Emma said barely holding back tears. "It's difficult to act normal around him not knowing how it will affect him."

"What do you mean?" asked Andromeda.

"Take yesterday for example. Harry fixed us breakfast," the two women looked at her in disgust, "we didn't even know he knew how. Any way when I came down stars to the smell of breakfast, I assumed it was Dan. When I saw it was Harry, I asked him what he was doing. He backed into a corner and asked if he did something wrong. He was afraid I was going to punish him. Whoever he lived with never showed him an ounce of love or compassion."

"Why do you say that?"

"After he reacted the way he did, I asked him if I could give him a hug. He asked me 'why?' I don't think any one has ever hugged him before and it confused him. I don't think he's used to being touched unless it's to hurt him."

"He doesn't seem to have a problem letting your daughter touch him."

"It's been like that since they met." Emma said both sad and proud at the same time.

Andromeda looked at her oddly. "She has some kind of connection with him we can't explain." Emma said.

"Have you noticed anything unusual when they touch?"

"Like what?"

"A glow, sparks, anything?"

"Not that we noticed. Why?"

"If they are both magical and they bonded, there should have been an outward sign."

"What do you mean bonded?"

"Some times when magicals are destined to be together or there is a strong emotional connection, their magic will bond them together. But, as I said there is usually some outward sign of the bond and since you say you haven't seen anything, I doubt that they have a bond. Let's get him inside and see what damage there is and what we need to do to fix it."

"Harry, Hermione, it's time to come in." Emma called out.

"Where do you want to do this?"

"It would be easier if he was lying down. Where is his room?"

"Upstairs."

"Harry, this is Andromeda Tonks. She's a healer."

"Call me Andi. How do you do Harry?" She asked as she extended her hand.

"I'm just fine." He responded as he tentively took her hand.

Emma led the two witches and two children up to the room they gave to Harry.

"Now Harry, all you need to do is lay down on your bed." Andi instructed him.

As harry laid on his bed, Andi pulled out her wand. She waved it above his body as she spoke in a language he didn't understand. She went over his body several times, her frown increasing every time, shaking her head.

"Well Andi, how bad is it?" Minerva asked.

"How can anyone do this to a child?"

"Andi?"

"I've seen auroras that have had fewer broken bones than this child has had. And none of them appear to have been set properly. Tell me Harry, have you ever seen a healer?"

"What's a healer?" he asked.

"I think she means a doctor." Said Emma.

"Oh. No."

"Then who set your bones?"

"I did as best I could."

"What did they give you for the pain?"

"Nothing." He grimaced.

"How did you stand the pain? Didn't you cry out?"

"At first I did, but that just brought more pain, so I learned how not to cry."

"Why?"

"Didn't have much choice in the matter now did I?"

"They say you have scars from being whipped. May I see them?"

Harry looked at Hermione, fear in his eyes.

"This will be the last time, Harry I promise. Anyone else will just have to take our word for it."

"Can I hold you?"

"Of course you can Harry."

He got off the bed and wrapped his arms around the girl. Minerva conjured a bucket.

Andi looked at it questioningly. "It saves time."

Hermione took the hem of his shirt in each hand and started to lift. It was a good thing Andi had seen so many things in the last war as a healer; she needed all her resolve not to throw up at the sight before her. Emma looked away, knowing what there was to see. She looked questioningly at Hermione.

"Harry said it was a studded belt."

"Please tell me you haven't seen his back?"

"No ma'am. Harry didn't want me to see it and I refuse to look. I know that Harry doesn't want my pity and he feels ashamed for what they did. I am trying to convince him that it was not his fault."

"Put his shirt down. I've seen enough." Turning to Emma. "Mrs. Granger, do you have something strong to drink?" Andi asked.

"We have some single malt whiskey down stairs."

"Could I trouble you for a glass?"

"Follow me." She said with a small smile as she led them back down stairs. Even this hardened healer had been unnerved by what she saw.

After they were all in the living room and Andi had her whiskey, Minerva asked, "What did you find?"

"Aside from every major bone in his body being broken multiple times, there are memory blocks of various kinds. Some have been done multiple times. And then there is a block on his core."

"That is to be expected." Minerva said.

"Not like this one Mini. This is not a parental block that should have broken at age ten. This is a permanent and limiting block. When Harry gets older and it does break, I don't want to be around."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever read what happens when a core explodes? I know it doesn't happen often, but it does happen."

"Can it be removed safely?" she asked looking nervously at Harry.

"Yes, but not by me. This is out of my league."

"What are you two talking about?" Emma asked, concern written on her face.

"In magical families, it is not uncommon to block a child's magical core to limit accidental out burst. It is removed around nine or ten so they get used to the added power before the go to school. This block is not one of those."

"Would you mind explaining an 'exploding core'?"

"We don't know all the details, but in rare instances, a witch or wizard will over load their core with magic and it will explode. The results are devastating in a small area. Any one close will die."

"Is this house warded?" Andi asked.

"No, I haven't had time to contact the goblins yet."

"Unless you want the ministry knocking on the door, you need to get it done before I start. The spells I need to use would have them here in a heartbeat."

"Is there anything you can or need to do in the meantime?" Mini asked.

"I need to gather and brew some potions. I would rather wait on the nutrition potions until his bone structure is repaired. Removing the bones is what will draw the ministry."

"I'll see them today and see how soon they can get it done."

"Can they be trusted in this?"

"For the son of James and Lily Potter, absolutely."

Harry looked up at the mention of his parents. "Professor, why would they do that? What makes me so special?"

"I can't tell you everything today, Harry, but your parents were highly respected by a lot of people in our world which is why I find it hard to believe that we were told you had died. Aside from your family being very old and distinguished, your parents worked very hard to change our world for the better. Not all magicals are treated the same. Goblins are one of the races your parents were trying to help without going to war. There are however many who belong to old families that oppose their ideas. Gaining support for such measures is not easy, but they were doing it. That is why the goblins at least will help and keep our secret. Before you go to Hogwarts, I and others will teach you as much as we can about your family and your role in our society."

**A/N: I'm trying to keep the chapters short so I can post more often. Bare with me and I will give you the best I can.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: sorry for the wait. **Plot bunnies had me distracted and had to clear my mind to get back here.

Don't own harry and friends, wish I did.

Chapter 6: The Goblins and the Will

Minerva arrived at Gringotts at ten that morning. She went to the first available teller.

"If he has the time, I need to speak to the Potter account manager, please."

"The nature of your business?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, but that can't be discussed in public." she replied.

The goblin looked at her for the first time, nodded and said, "Wait here, please." Got off his stool and disappeared in to the back. Moments later, he returned with another goblin.

"This is Sawtooth, he is the goblin you asked for," the first goblin said and returned to his duties.

"May I ask who are you and why do you wish to speak with me?"

She bowed to the goblin and spoke softly, "It concerns the Potters and I do not wish to speak of it here where any can over hear." She stood up straight and waited for the goblin to speak.

He studied her for a moment. The Potter name hadn't been spoken in almost a decade and now this woman was here to speak of them. Curiosity forced his decision. "Follow me." He turned and led her down a short passage. He entered his office and invited her to sit.

"Now, who are you and what is it you wish to speak about?"

"I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, and to tell the truth, I need your help. I know that goblins don't normally set up wards for wizards or if they do, they come at a high price."

"This is true, but why come to me? That is not my department."

"I come to you as the goblins are the only ones I can trust to do this, and it's for James and Lily's son."

"Professor, goblins don't take kindly to jokes." He said angrily.

"I would not even think about joking about the Potters, especially with the Goblins. I do not wish to die. They were close and dear friends of mine before they died. I know that it will be a shock, but their son lives. Surely the goblins are aware that a Potter still lives."

Stoic creature that they are, it takes a lot to shock a goblin, and Sawtooth was momentarily speechless.

"We know that the blood wards on their vaults are still active, but we didn't know why. Are you sure?" he asked.

"As sure as one can be with out a blood test."

Sawtooth sat back in his chair to think about what she just told him. "You mentioned wards, what do you need and where?"

"Young Mister Potter is currently living with a first generation witch and her family. We are seeking to hide him there and allow magic to be used that the ministry cannot detect."

"Why?"

"Mr. Potter was living with some vile people that hurt him and he needs the aid of a healer. The spells she needs to use would have the ministry there in moments. We don't want them to know where he is yet."

"Before I commit the goblins to anything, I need to confirm he is who you say he is. Can you take me there so I can conduct the blood test?"

"Yes." She said without hesitation. She knew that the goblins guarded their clients privacy above all else.

He retrieved a bowl, blue parchment, and a ceremonial dagger from his desk, "Let's go. The sooner this is confirmed, the sooner we can get started with what needs to be done." He led here to a special room that allowed them to apparate from the bank.

"I will not take us directly in to the house as they don't know you are coming with me and they have never seen a goblin before." She explained. Sawtooth nodded at her explanation and side-a-long apparated to the Grangers. She had them arrive in the backyard so as not to startle them, even though they knew she was coming back. They didn't know that she would be returning with a goblin. She led Sawtooth to the back door and knocked.

Dan went to the back door, surprised to see Minerva there. "Why didn't you just come in, Mini?"

"I'm not alone and I didn't want to startle you. This is Account Manager Sawtooth. He is here to verify that Harry is who I say he is." She explained.

Dan was shocked to see the short creature that he had only read about in fiction. After a moment he stuck out his hand, "Pleased to meet you."

"This is Dan Granger, the father of the witch I mentioned."

Sawtooth took his hand, unsure of this person. "How do you do?"

"Please come in." Dan opened the door wide and stepped back to allow them to enter is home. "Everyone is in the living room." He said as he led them through the house.

Sawtooth looked around as he followed. It was unusual for a goblin to be in a non-magical home and he was curious about it, as would anyone in a strange environment. He noted the various appliances and pictures that didn't move. When they entered the living room, he noted the people there. When he saw Harry for the first time, he knew that this was in all probability the son of James Potter. He was a little scrawny, but he had James's features and Lily's eyes.

"Everyone, this is Sawtooth, Account manager for the Potter family. He is here to verify my claim as to who Harry is. Sawtooth, this is Emma Granger and her daughter Hermione. I think you may know Andromeda Tonks, and the young man is Harry Potter."

Sawtooth nodded his head at each name was introduced. "Mr. Potter, if you don't mind, we need to verify who you are before we can do anything else. It is not difficult; we just need a few drops of your blood on this parchment."

Harry was uncertain what to do. He had never seen a goblin before and this one wanted his blood. He looked from Hermione to Minerva, questions in his eyes.

"It is perfectly safe, Harry. It is the only way to prove who you are. I have no doubt, but it must be verified." Minerva told him.

Sawtooth laid the parchment on the table in front of the couch and drew the dagger from its sheath. "Now Mr. Potter, just put your hand above the parchment and I will cut your hand. Allow three drops of blood to land on it. I will heal your hand immediately."

Harry, nervously put his hand out over the parchment. Sawtooth made a quick slash across his palm, as soon as the required three drops landed on the parchment, Sawtooth waved his hand across Harry's hand, and it quit bleeding immediately without a scar.

After a few moments, Harry's family tree appeared confirming that he was indeed Harold James Potter. Harry was amazed at the names that appeared. His mother and father, James and Lily, his grand parents on his father's side, Charles and Dorea Potter nee Black.

"Oh my!" Minerva exclaimed as she looked at the names.

"What?" asked Harry.

"Your grandmother, she was a Black."

"So?"

"Harry, you have a lot to learn about your heritage as a wizard and magic, but one thing you will learn is that blood relatives cannot turn on each other. Sirius Black is your cousin by blood, which means it should have been impossible for him to betray you or your father."

"I don't understand what you are talking about."

"Harry, we were under the impression that Sirius was your family secret keeper and that he betrayed you to the man that killed your parents."

Harry looked at her questioningly.

"There is a form of magic that allows us to hide things and only a secret keeper can reveal it to any one. The home you were living in at the time was under such protection. Sirius should not have been able to tell anyone that meant you harm that secret."

"Where is this cousin?"

"He's in the wizard prison known as Azkaban. He was accused of killing a dozen non-magicals as well as another friend of your fathers."

"So he's a traitor and a mass murder?"

"I'm not so sure any more, Harry. There are just too many things that don't add up anymore."

"Would you like to enlighten me, Professor?" Sawtooth asked.

"Our world was told Harry died with his parents, but here he is. Why? We were told Sirius was their secret keeper, but his blood should not have allowed him to betray them. If that is true, how did 'He-who-must-not-be-named' find them? Why did Sirius go after Peter Pettigrew? Why was their other friend sent out of the country at the time? Why was Harry put with relatives that clearly hate magic?"

"You have raised a lot of questions, Professor. I need to get back to the bank and start things in motion that will get wards set here and try to answer some of your questions. Mr. Potter…"

"Harry, please?" asked Harry.

"Harry, rest assured that the Goblins will do everything in our power to help you, and find the answers that you seek."

Harry, who had been sitting on the couch with Hermione, got up and approached the goblin. He extended his hand. When Sawtooth took it he said, "Thank you."

"It is an honor to once again serve the House of Potter." He bowed to Harry, which had Minerva awed for the Goblins normally bowed to no witch or wizard. "There is one other piece of business to take care of before I leave. Harry, I have here the last will and testament of your parents. Do you trust the people in this room enough for them to hear it?"

Harry looked at each of the people in the room. Though he had just met them, the fact that they cared enough to help him was enough to gain his trust. "Yes."

"Very good. Harry, I require three more drops of your blood to activate this. It is the most secure way of making sure an heir sees the will personally."

Harry held his hand out over the bowl Sawtooth placed on the table where the parchment had been. Sawtooth cut his hand just as had before allowing three drops of blood to drip into the bowl.

A mist rose from the bowl and changed into two people, one male, and one female.

"This is the last will and testament of James Charles Potter and Lily Marie Potter nee Evans Dated October 1st 1981 and supersedes all others. If this is being heard before Harry turned eleven, it means Voldemort found us, and we are dead and Harry survived. Harry, have no doubt that your mother and I loved you very much, and that we did all that we could to protect you, even at the cost of our lives.

Now down to business; to Sirius Black. If you family hasn't accepted you for who you are, G500,000 and access to Potter Manor.

To Remus Lupin; G500,000 and you can't give it back. Find a girl Remus, not everyone hates you for your 'furry little problem'. Get over it.

The rest of our money, properties, and titles go to our son Harold James Potter, with full access at age eleven. His trust vault is at his immediate disposal for what ever he needs.

In the event of our death, we have a list of people that should see to his care and the order that they are to succeed each other.

Sirius Black (Magical Godfather and Brother in my heart)

Frank and Alice Longbottom (Magical Godmother and friend)

Minerva McGonagall (Friend and mentor)

Amelia Bones (Friend, boss and mentor)

Stephan Greengrass (Ally and friend)

Sawtooth (Account Manager, friend and ally)

Under absolutely no circumstances is Harry to be placed with Vernon and Petunia Dursley. She cast us out and I fear for Harry's life in their home.

One final piece of business. Sawtooth, you are authorized to enter our vault as soon as this will is heard. In it, you will find a box with your name on it. It contains secrets that need to be made public. It will reveal our traitor.

Remember Harry, we love you and will watch over you even if we can't be there."

With those final words, the mist returned to the bowl. Harry had buried his face into Hermione's shoulder, quietly weeping. After a moment, "Where those images of my parents?" he asked as he drew in a deep breath to calm himself.

"Yes, Harry, it was. And it raises even more doubt about Sirius." said Minerva.

"How so?" he sniffled.

"Your father said he was your Magical Godfather. That means they had to perform a ritual that binds his magic to yours. To betray you would be the same as betraying himself. It just can't be done."

"Professor, Harry, it is urgent that I get back to the bank and see to the wards and other things. If there is anything else that needs our attention, please do not hesitate to contact me. Professor, as long as your business pertains to Mr. Potter, use the apparation zone in the bank we left from."

"Actually Sawtooth there is one other issue I would like the goblins to look into." Andi said.

"And what would that be Healer Tonks?"

"There is a block on Harry's core that should not be there and I am not qualified to remove. Perhaps a goblin healer or curse breaker could look at it."

"I'll make arrangements as soon as I get back to the bank to have a healer come here." He promptly got up, gathered his materials, and left with a small pop.

"Would someone mind explaining what the hell is going on?" Dan asked slightly aggravated. "It seems like a lot more than we were told to begin with."

"Dan, I never expected to find the degree of betrayal that has come to light in the last few hours. I certainly wouldn't have involved your family if I had known. And quite frankly, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted no part in this."

"Emma, we need to talk." He headed upstairs followed quickly by his wife.

After they entered their bedroom and closed the door, Dan sat on their bed and rubbed his face with both hands. "What are we going to do? I hate the idea of not helping that poor boy, but I never expected this."

"I agree, but we aren't in this alone. We have the help of magical beings that seem determined to help him. I don't know why, but the goblins seem to hold him in high regard for some reason. Mini was a dear friend of his parents and there are others that were allies and friends that will probably help as well. What will it do to Hermione if we decide to stop helping? You can see how attached they are to each other."

"I know, and that bothers me too. Why are they so close? What is it about Harry, that has her so protective of him?"

"I don't know. We'll have to wait and find out."

"Then I guess we continue as we have?"

"Could you live with yourself if we didn't?"

"No." Dan stood up and engulfed his wife in his arms, "Have I told you lately that I love you?" he then kissed her.

"You just did. Come on, let's tell the others we are still in this. We'll make at least two kids very happy."

When they re-entered the living room and announced that they were committed to helping Harry, Hermione hugged both her parents. Harry was at a loss as to what to say.

Gringotts Bank

Upon his return, Sawtooth went immediately to the Potter vault to retrieve the box with his name on it. After reading the contents, he went to the banks director's office. The director also happened to be the Leader of the Goblin Nation.

Upon entering the director's office he bowed, "Your Highness, I bring urgent news."

"Rise, Sawtooth. What is this urgent news?"

"The son of our Greatest ally still lives. I also have evidence of much betrayal towards the family. I also have several request for aid that I urge that we honor."

"Tell me everything you have learned."

For the next half hour. Sawtooth told Ragnook all that he was told and what he saw with his own eyes. He showed him the parchment showing the bloodlines of Harry Potter and the will of James and Lily Potter. Then he revealed the papers that James requested he retrieve from the Potter vault.

"It would seem the wizards are up to their old tricks. I authorize you to do what ever is necessary to protect young Mr. Potter, Sawtooth. Send who ever is necessary to help him heal and be all that he can be, teachers if you feel the need."

"Highness." He said as he bowed out of the room. Within the hour after he left the Grangers, goblin warders and a healer were at the Granger residence, as well as Sawtooth.

"I spoke with Ragnook and he authorized all of this."

"Why and who will pay for all of this?" Minerva asked.

"He just said do it. I'm not fool enough to question his decision."

**A/N:** so now the Goblins involved. Next the healing.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Tissue alert. Some of the things in this chapter maybe difficult. Don't own HP characters, just this plot.

Chapter 7: Healing continues

Sawtooth told the four goblin warders that they were to put up every protection they knew and to make sure the ministry could not detect magic used on the property. He and the healer that accompanied him here went into the house.

"This is Goldclaw; he is the best healer we have." He turned to Goldclaw. "If you and Healer Tonks will take Harry someplace to examine him, I will talk to the Grangers. Healer Tonks, his magic can't be detected by the ministry and the warders were instructed to let me know the minute they have the wards in place."

"Thank you Sawtooth. Harry, Hermione, this way please." Then, she led them back up to Harry's bedroom.

"Why is the girl coming?" grumbled Goldclaw.

"They have a strange connection and Harry feels safe with her. I doubt he would come without her." Andromeda replied.

"Are they bonded?"

"Not that we are aware of."

"Lay on the bed," Goldclaw ordered.

Harry half hid behind Hermione. Harry was terrified of the strange creature. He did not seem friendly at all. Hermione reached around to hug him.

"You're scaring him. He has had a horrible life and he doesn't know you. It may not be in your nature, but if you want Harry to trust you, you need to be kinder. Did they not tell you?" she scolded.

"No, they did not. Tell me what you know."

"Harry has been abused physically and mentally, probably for the last nine years. I don't know why, but we have formed an attachment of some kind. He feels safe with me. He doesn't know what a normal loving family is like. He has only been with us since Saturday and we are trying to show him what he has missed since he parents were killed. He is afraid you mean him harm," explained Hermione.

"Harry, would you please lay on the bed. I promise I intend you no harm." Goldclaw said in as soft a voice as a goblin could speak.

Hermione led him to the bed and stayed close while Goldclaw waved his hands over Harry. The longer he did this, the madder he seemed to get. His voice went lower and his features more grotesque. He cast one more spell and twenty small globes floated above Harry's head. When he finished he asked, "How could anyone do this to a child?"

"We don't know. Can you do anything about his block?" Andi asked.

"Not me, one of the curse breakers is on his way. He was out of the country; otherwise he would be here now." Goldclaw said as he shook his head. "Is any action being taken against those that did this?"

"You would have to talk to either McGonagall or Sawtooth." Replied Andi.

"Did you notice the traces on him?"

"No. What kind of traces?"

"They are very subtle, as if who ever placed them didn't want them found. They're tracking and health charms. Why put on health charms and then allow this kind of abuse? It's almost as if someone wants him beaten down."

"What are those globes?"

"Those represent the number of times he was obliviated."

"His memory was erased twenty times. Why?"

"So it would appear, we would have to release the memories and let Harry tell us what they were." (1)

"Goldclaw, may I speak to you over here?" She indicated a corner of the room away from the bed. He nodded and followed her. "I don't know much about goblin healing, but can it remove old scar tissue on a human?"

"That would depend on the scar and how old it is. Why?"

"Harry's back is crisscrossed with scars. And before you ask, unless it is to heal them, do not ask to see them. Harry has had to show them several times already, and is ashamed of them. It bothers him deeply for anyone to see them. I can tell you, that in all my years as a healer, I have never seen the like. Not even during the last war."

"If it's as bad as you say, we would almost have to remove his skin and then heal it from there. Not a pleasant prospect."

"No more than having to remove his bones and regrowing them."

"I need to talk with Harry and then I need to return to the Bank." Turning and walking back to the bed. Harry was sitting up and Hermione was sitting next to him.

"Harry, I need you and the young lady to come down stairs. There are questions I need to ask and I think it would be best if everyone involved were present. That way we don't have any misunderstandings."

"Okay." Harry and Hermione got up and followed Goldclaw and Andi downstairs.

/

"I need to know all that is happening to the people that abused Mr. Potter and what your plans are so the Goblins can coordinate with you. No need both of us doing the same thing," said Sawtooth.

McGonagall spoke first, "We were trying to keep that fact we know of Harry's existence quite, but the muggle law enforcement got involved accidently. They are checking the family Harry was living with. Apparently, there are no records of him being placed there. Andi is here to heal what she can, that's why we needed the wards. Then we were going to teach Harry about our world and magic."

"How did the muggles get involved?"

"We took Harry on a shopping trip as the clothes he was wearing were four times too big for him. Someone at the store reported it to the constabularies." Dan said.

"We are working with a solicitor to get custody transferred to the Grangers," interjected Minerva.

"There are papers that were held in the Potter vault that has shed some light on everything that has happened and as soon as Mr. Potter rejoins us, I will reveal what we have learned and see what he wants to do."

About this time, Harry and the others came down and the curse breaker they had been waiting on ha just arrived.

"Sawtooth, I need to speak to you and the curse breaker over here," Goldclaw said and led them over to the other side of the room. The longer the talked, the more animated Goldclaw became and the fiercer he looked. He was clearly unhappy about something. As soon as he finished talking, he disappeared. A very disturbed Sawtooth rejoined the group of adults.

"Is there no end to what has been done to this child?" Sawtooth uncharacteristically sat down. "Goldclaw told me that Harry has been obliviated twenty times. From what you have told me of his life, I fear what those memories hold. There is a means to restore them, but I don't know if it would be wise to do so at this time."

"Curse breaker Longknife, would you look at the block on Harry and tell us what needs to be done?"

"Please explain to Harry what you are going to do, so understands what is happening?" Hermione requested.

Longknife looked at Sawtooth who nodded.

"Harry, I am not going to hurt you. I will scan you just as the others have done. You should not feel anything." He then stepped in front of Harry, speaking quietly in gobligook while moving his hands over his chest.

"It is just as you told me, Account Manger Sawtooth. The block is meant to be released all at once under extreme pressure. However, since he is so young yet and his core is still developing, I believe that with the right potions we can dissolve it with out harm to him or anyone else."

"How long will it take?" Sawtooth asked.

"It would depend on how strong the potion is made. We can weaken it to where it takes six months to a year. Given the strength of his core, I recommend a year."

"Is he really that powerful?" Minerva asked.

"I don't normally deal with human children, but I would say he is the most powerful nine year old ever."

"I'm ten." Harry declared.

Longknife looked at Sawtooth. "We're dealing with it among other things. That's why healer Tonks is here. Go a head and make your potion as you see fit. You're right, the longer the better." Longknife disappeared.

"Professor McGonagall, Healer Tonks, how strong are your ties to Dumbledore?"

"Please since we are allies in this, call me Mini. Until recently, they were very strong. Now however, that faith has been shattered."

"Call me Andi. I feel the same as Mini."

"I can assume, Dan and Emma, you never heard of the man?"

"No we haven't." Emma replied.

"As you know from the will, I was instructed to retrieve a box from the Potter vault. In it were papers that were very disturbing. Sirius Black was not the Potter secret keeper as we were led to believe, Peter Pettigrew was. The charm was set up by none other then Professor Dumbledore. Search of the account shows that he set payments to the Dursley for Harry's care. Since it is evident that the money was not spent on Harry, we can legally go after them, reclaim monetary compensation, and charge them with fraud. And you know how we feel about fraud."

Emma looked at Mini. "Theft is the worse possible thing in the eyes of Goblins. There is no honor in stealing and they believe in honor above all else. Let's just say that any thief they catch is never heard from again."

"There are other questionable withdrawals as well. He also set himself up as Harry's magical guardian. Since we have seen the will and we know who the Potter's actually wanted to take care of Harry, we can change that. You were third in line Minerva. Will you fulfill your friends wish?"

"Absolutely." She said without hesitation.

"Now then, Emma, when your daughter enters our world a year from now, she will need a magical guardian. If she doesn't have one, the headmaster can claim her as his ward. Since he seems to want to control Harry, he might do so as a means to do just that considering how close they are. What do you want to do?"

"What are our options?" asked Emma.

"If you know someone magical, you can have them as her guardian."

"What is the purpose of this guardian?"

"They would deal with all her magical needs, education, legal issues; things of that nature. In other words, they would be magical parents. You would have no say unless it is someone you trust and would talk to you about things." Mini explained.

"Would you consider it Mini? If you take care of her the way you do Harry, I have no problem with you being her guardian." Emma said.

"Yes." She said without hesitation.

"Good, as soon as I get back to the bank, I'll get the necessary paper work to make it legal and binding. That will be one less worry and one less tool he can use against Harry. I just wish we knew what he was up to."

At this time, one of the goblins setting up the wards came in and spoke to Sawtooth in gobligook. "The warders need a strand of hair from each of the people that will have access to this house to key them into the wards. If you aren't keyed in, you will need someone to bring you here."

"Does that include us?" asked Emma.

"Yes it does." Saw tooth replied.

After Emma supplied her strand of hair, "I'll be back in a moment." With that, she headed upstairs. "This is a strand of Dan's hair. Well it has been a full morning; I think I'll start lunch. Will you be joining us Sawtooth?"

"Thank you for the offer, but I must be getting back in order to safe guard your daughter. The sooner we get that done, the better." With that, he popped away.

"I don't know if I will ever get used to people just popping in and out." Emma said.

"Since what I need to do for Harry will take the better part of a week, I need to clear my calendar and let my husband know that I will be tied up for most of the day for the rest of the week. We will start first thing in the morning." She stepped out the door before she disappeared.

One by one, the adult magicals left the Granger residence with promises to return as needed or just to see how things were going.

After lunch, Harry and Hermione strolled the garden in the back of the house, trying to relax and understand all that they had learned.

/

At eight the next morning, Andi Tonks was knocking at the backdoor of the Granger residence.

"Why didn't you just 'pop' into the house like you did yesterday?" Emma asked as she let Andi in the house.

"I wasn't sure if you would be up yet. I didn't want to startle you this early."

"I appreciate your consideration for us, but we are usually up by seven."

"I know I wouldn't want someone 'popping' in on me this early. Now then, Harry do you understand what is to happen today?"

"You are going to start healing what you feel is wrong with me."

"Harry, don't you realize that you are different than every one else?"

"Because I'm a wizard?"

"Well there is that, but what I was referring to is the shape your body is in."

"No, I've always been different. It's normal for me," he said sheepishly.

Andi just shook her head. What had these people done to this boy for him to think this was normal? "Harry, compare your arm to Hermione's."

He put his arm next to hers. Where hers was straight, his was bowed. "So?"

"You don't think the difference as odd?"

"She's a girl, I'm a boy." as if that explained everything.

"In this, that has no bearing. Your arm should be just as straight and just as long as hers. This is the result of your mistreatment. Now, if the breaks had been recent, simply giving you skel-grow would solve the problem, but it has been too long. What I will have to do is remove the bones that are already there and regrow them. It will be very painful. Unfortunately, I can't give you anything for the pain, as the two would counteract each other. Do you understand what that means?"

"Pain and I are old friends." He said simply with a shrug of his shoulders.

No one could understand how he could shrug off the pain to come as if it was nothing of consequence.

Dan and Emma had decided last night that she would stay at home for the rest of the week until Harry's healing was done. Dan would have liked to have stayed, but they felt one was enough and someone had to keep their practice open so as not to draw attention to them.

"Alright, let's go up to your room. You need to be laying down for this." The four of them went up to Harry's room where he laid down on his bed. Hermione sat on the left side of his bed. "Are you sure you want to stay for this Miss Granger? He will be in quite a bit of pain."

"He needs me." She said with steel in her eyes.

Andi just nodded to her. "Harry, I'm going to dissolve the bones now. At this point, you won't feel much different. It is when we start to give you the skel-grow that the pain will start. Try not to move, Okay. Are you ready?"

He just nodded.

Andi started waving her wand over his body while she spoke the incantation that would remove his bones. It took all of five minutes. "Now, Harry, I'm going to start giving you the skel-grow." She held a vial to his lips and helped him drink it down.

"That's taste awful."

"Yes it does, but get used to it as you will have to drink quite a bit before you are done."

At first, nothing seemed to be happening; then, Harry showed the first signs of discomfort. No one noticed the beads of sweat that appeared on Hermione's forehead. Hermione had turned her head slightly as the discomfort first started to show in her new friend. She could still see him but those across the bed from her could not see her face. Andi was amazed. She had treated many broken bones in her career, but they had all withered in pain and asked for a sleeping potion to escape the pain. She could not imagine the pain tolerance required to show no more than Harry did.

Every two hours, she gave Harry another dose. After the third hour, Hermione groaned as if she were in pain.

"Hermione, what's the matter dear?" her mother asked.

"I don't know. I just ache all over." She moaned.

"When did you start to feel this?" Andi asked.

"It started when Harry first showed signs of discomfort."

"Why didn't you say something?" asked Andi.

"I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was sympathy pains or something."

Andi sat and thought, 'Could it be because his core is so bound that we didn't notice a bond?' She thought of all the things she could do that wouldn't interfere with Harry's healing to help her pain. "Hermione, I'm not sure what is going on, but the only thing I can think of to give you that won't hurt Harry's healing is a sleeping draft. If what I suspect is true, it's all I can do for you."

"What do you suspect?" Emma asked.

"With his core bound like it is, we didn't see it, but I think that they have a bond. We won't no for sure until his core is unbound."

"Is this bond dangerous?" Emma asked.

"No, bonds are not dangerous. They are rare, especially this early, but they are not dangerous."

"What does it mean for them?"

"That would depend on what type of bond it is. It might just be a friendship bond, which would hardy affect them at all. On the other hand, a love bond is just as the name implies, which I'm sure they are too young for, especially since they just met. On the other hand, it could be a soul bond, which would seem most likely at this point. The thing is, since his magic is bound it's hard to tell. There are usually outwards signs when such a bond starts. Like I said with his magic bound like it is, we didn't see it."

They set up a cot for Hermione, as she didn't want to leave Harry and gave her a sleeping potion so she wouldn't have to feel what Harry felt, as his bones were re-grown. For two days the continued this routine. They would stop long enough for Hermione to eat, as they didn't know how long it would take to finish. Emma and Dan would spell Andi during the evenings so she could go home.

On the third day, Harry said that he couldn't feel the potion doing anything anymore. They allowed Hermione to come out of her drug induced sleep to help confirm that she didn't feel anything either.

"For the rest of today, I don't want you two to exert yourselves. Sit around and read or something that will not tax you very much. Tomorrow, you can walk in the back yard. If you feel fine after that you can start to do more."

"Emma, I want you to start giving Harry this potion with his breakfast and dinner. As they begin to work, you should notice an increase in his appetite. This is perfectly normal. You will also notice some rapid growth for a while. When you notice he has stopped growing, cut back to once a day for a week then three times a week. I will be checking in on his progress and will let you know when you can stop all together. I'll stop by Gringotts and let them know where we stand and they can start their part."

Longknife showed up at nine the next morning. "This is the potion we brewed just for Harry. You are to give it to him just before bedtime. That way he will be the most relaxed. If you notice a severe change in him, such as huge bouts of accidental magic, stop the potion and get in touch with us immediately."

"How? We can't just 'pop in and out' like you can." Emma said.

"I'll be right back." Ten minutes later, he was back. "This is an emergency portkey. I will show you how to use it and what it feels like and where it will take you so you are not caught off guard. To activate it, just say Gringotts Emergency. It will then take you to the bank. Activating it will automatically notify us and someone will be there to greet you. Are you ready to try this?"

"Yes."

"Gringotts Emergency." Emma felt a tug behind her navel and started spinning through the colors of the rainbow. "Start moving your feet as if you were walking." She did as instructed and they landed with little difficulty.

"That is certainly different."

"It is the fastest way to travel and non-magicals can use it if they are told how to activate them." Longknife explained.

"Handy. And this is where I will come every time?"

"Yes it is. Now it is time to go back. Granger Home."

"You said to look out for accidental magic, what should we look for?"

"Anything out of the normal that you can't explain. These usually only happen if a child is very emotional. Anger is the most common trigger."

Over the next couple of days, things quieted down. The kids started to get more active and played outside most of the time.

/

John had been busy while Harry was being healed. He contacted the Child service agent that had talked to Harry at the Constabulary, at her office.

"Mrs. Sullivan? Hi! My name is John Gulliver. I represent the Grangers and Mr. Potter, actually more Mr. Potter. Can you tell me what you have found out so far?"

"What is your interest in this case?"

"As I said I represent Mr. Potter and I want what is best for the lad."

"Why did it take you so long to start looking out for him? From what I saw the other day, he has been abused for a long time."

"Because I was just involved the day before."

"Again I ask why so long?"

"The person that asked me to get involved thought he was dead. When she found him alive and the conditions under which he was living, she asked me to help her find a family he could live with."

"Why the Grangers?"

"They have a history of working with abused children. They thought it would help them if they could see first hand how to help an abused child. So what have you learned?"

"Not much so far, I'm afraid. There are no records of him in our archives'. I can't even find a birth certificate for him; without that, there is not much I can do. We have a child with no proof of who he is."

"Let me do some checking around and get back to you. I can't believe that there isn't a record some where."

**A/N;** Sorry for the cliff hanger. Writers block, hope to have more soon. Next will probably be school before Hogwarts.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Don't own Harry and friends. Still looking for a beta.

Chapter 8: Custody

John Gulliver was a man with a problem. He had a client that, according to government records, didn't exist. His only hope is to contact his friend Minerva and hope that there are records in the wizard world that he can use in the muggle world to prove he does exist in order to prosecute the Dursleys and give legal guardianship to the Grangers. So, after his visit with Mrs. Sullivan, he sent an owl to Minerva.

Mini,

No records of our friend. Can you help?

John

Minerva was not sure what to do. Usually all births were recorded with the ministry. Unfortunately looking there for a copy of Harry's birth certificate might raise questions she doesn't want to answer. _**Looks like another trip to Gringotts and a talk with the Goblins. But if there are no records, how did the Dursleys register Harry for school?**_

John,

Check to see if he attended school in Surry. They should have a copy of his certificate. Surely, he went to school.

Mini

After reading Mini's letter, "Leave it to an educator to think of school records. Now all I need is an excuse to look at Harry's and get a copy made. The question is, will they tell the Dursleys that someone is looking at Harry's records." He thought of several scenarios and decided on covering the whole class saying he is looking for exceptional students for a private school. It would mean looking at more records, but at least it might cover what he was really looking for. With a plan in mind, John started checking the schools in Surrey to see which would be closest to Privet Drive. Little Whining Primary (1) was four blocks away.

It took John an additional two days to make sure his story was plausible and have documents to back him up. Confident his plan would work; he set off to find out how or even if Harry had attended school.

"Hello, Mr. Roberts? My name is John Gulliver and I represent a special group that is looking for special students to attend their private school. They normally don't canvas public schools, but felt that they might be missing some talent by overlooking them and have decided this year to do so. Might I come by today to check and see if you have such students in your school?"

"I don't see why not. Shall we say around ten?"

"That will be fine. I'll see you at ten." Replied John and hung up the phone. Phase one complete. He would need Minerva for phase three.

/

Mr. Roberts, the headmaster of Little Whining Primary, was about fifty years old with thin graying hair with a potbelly. Definitely not the athletic type. He greeted John in a friendly manner. "Now then, just what kind of student are you looking for and is there a age restriction?"

"We are mainly looking for ten and eleven year old boys and girls with good minds."

"Well that certainly narrows the number of students." He went into the next room and fifteen minutes later brought back a small stack of files. "Now what are we looking for?"

"Do you mind if I look? It's rather difficult to explain what we require. It would be easier for me to look at the records. You're welcome to stay as I look." He said trying to calm his fears.

"As long as these files don't leave this office, I don't see the harm."

John made a conscious effort to look at all the files as if he was actually looking for something, but Harry's file was not here. "Are these all the boys in the age group?"

"No. There are ten others, but they are not our best students."

"May I look at them please? My employers want to be thorough."

When Mr. Roberts returned, he had ten more files. Some of them were quite thick. John raised an eyebrow in question.

"Trouble makers." He explained.

When he came across Dudley Dursley, he looked at it quite closely. His grades were low, but yet, he was considered a model student. The combination normally didn't go together. Harry's file was one of the thickest of the group. He noticed that when Harry first started school, his grades were very good. Then all of a sudden, his grades dropped off. He was constantly reprimanded for running and lying. There was indeed a birth certificate in his records and confirmed his parents names. Now to get Mini to come after hours and make copies of them.

"Thank you Mr. Roberts, but I don't think that any of these are what we are looking for. Sorry to take up your time." John said as he got up. He extended his hand. Mr. Roberts shook his hand.

"It was time well spent if it meant one of our youngsters had a chance to better themselves."

/

When John got home, he wrote a quick note to Mini.

Mini,

Found what we were looking for. See me soonest possible.

Your Friend

/

Meanwhile at the Granger residence, the effects of the potions Harry was taking started to show. His appetite had improved and he had grown several inches in height. He was bulking up as well. You could no longer count his ribs without actually touching him. One side affect of this though, was he slept more. After a week, this affect lessened and he was more energetic. One of his favorite forms of exercise is swimming, which he never did without a dark colored shirt on. He was still self-conscious of the scars on his back and wouldn't let anyone see them. As he became more accustomed to his new body, he swam more. This did wonders for toning his muscles. At Dan's suggestion, he had also taken up running. Hermione joined him every other day on his runs.

"I'm glad we didn't go over board buying him clothes. The way he's growing, it would cost a fortune to replace them very often." Emma commented.

"It's a good thing it's still warm enough for shorts and tee shirts. I hope it slows down before he enters school."

"Speaking of school, we need to find out where we stand as his guardians. We need to register him soon if he is going to go with Hermione. There are only two weeks before school starts."

"John was supposed to see if he can get Harry's records. Maybe he had trouble getting them."

Ring. Ring. Ring. Dan went into the other room. "Hello, Granger residence." Dan said as he answered the telephone.

"Hi John we were just speaking of you."

"You did?"

"We'll have copies by the end of the week. That's great."

"Ah Huh."

"Fine. We'll see you on Friday. That's a load off our minds."

"Bye."

Dan went back to the kitchen and joined Emma. "Well that was John. He located Harry's records and said he'll have copies for us by Friday."

/

Minerva knocked on John's door later that evening.

"Hello Minerva. Glad you could make it so quickly."

"Well you did say soonest and I thought it best not to delay getting the records."

"Can you get us into the school tonight and copy the records?"

Minerva raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry. Stupid question. Do you need to know where the school is to apparate there or do I need to drive us there?"

"I think it would be best if you drove. Blind apparation can be dangerous."

An hour's drive found them outside Little Whining Primary. Fortunately, the school office was at the front of the building so it wasn't hard for them to find. Seconds later, they were inside the office and John set about finding Harry's records. Mini made short work of copying the records and they left with no one the wiser.

"I'm glad that is out of the way." John said. "I'll get these to Dan and Emma and a copy of his birth certificate to Child Services and push through their guardianship."

"How long do you think it will take to get it done?" she asked.

"Probably before school starts." He paused, "Mini, how are you going to keep Harry a secret from his keepers if you removed his trackers?"

"The Goblins can be quite devious it seems. When they removed the trackers from Harry, instead of destroying them, they just took them and attached them to the house he was supposed to be at. If any one checks, they will think he is right where he is supposed to be."

"How accurate are these trackers? I mean are they accurate enough to tell if he goes to school or not?" He asked concern in his voice.

"That would depend on the monitoring device and how often it is actually checked. If they don't have reason to check, then I doubt they do it very often if at all."

/

Harry was having the time of his life. He was living with people that seemed to care about him; something that he had dreamed of but never thought he would experience. He was still cautious around Dan and Emma, but they didn't force themselves on him. They had been a few occasions when Emma had shown that she cared quite a bit just by hugging him when he had a particularly bad nightmare. Most of the time, if no one had heard him scream in the night, he would just go to Hermione's bed. She would then comfort him, and he would finish the night in her bed. But on those occasions when he couldn't contain the screams. Emma would rush to him and hold him until he calmed down enough to go back to sleep. Some times, she would lay with him until he fell asleep. It was comforting to know she was there for him.

Hermione was easy to be around. They would read together and she would test him on what he had learned in school. She even helped him to revise for the coming school year. It was frustrating at first. She knew so much and sometimes it was hard for him to understand what she was trying to teach him.

One day, he told her, "Hermione, you're using words I don't understand. Are you sure this is what we will be studying this year?"

"I'm sorry Harry. That's the way I'm used to talking. Since I don't have any friends my age, I usually have only grown-ups to talk to. And no, actually this is a little more advanced then this year's course."

"Hermione, I appreciate your trying to push me; really I do, but do you think we could get me through this year first? Remember, I had to not be smart to survive."

"Right. Well anytime I start to stray, remind me, Okay?"

"Sure Hermione."

He really did learn a lot from her and given time, he was sure that he would give her a run for her money when it came to schoolwork.

He was growing stronger every day. When Dan had first suggested that he start running as part of his routine, he wasn't sure about it. He thought Dan just wanted him out of the house until Dan offered to run with him. He said it was to make sure he didn't over exert himself. Harry could run pretty fast, but only for short distances. As they continued to run together, they started to talk about different things, like sports, books, and school. One time, Dan asked him what he wanted out of life.

"To be normal, I guess."

"What do you call normal?" Dan inquired as they jogged through the park near their home.

"To be like you and Emma and Hermione, to be part of a family." He said wishfully. "But that will never happen." He said as he hung his head.

"Why do you think that, Harry?" Dan was upset about this turn of events.

"Because I'm a freak and freaks don't deserve what's normal. They don't deserve to be loved." Harry had stopped jogging as unshed tears made it hard to see.

Dan was really getting upset with the job the Dursleys had done on Harry's self-esteem. "Harry that is pure non-sense. What the Dursley's have told you is a pack of lies. Harry, we have watched you, and believe me, you are not a freak. I have never met a child more deserving of the things you mentioned then you. Emma and I have come to love you as if you were our own and are working towards making you one of us. If we didn't love you, you would not be in our home. Do you believe me, Harry?" Dan pleaded as he knelt in front of Harry. He opened his arms and Harry looked at them, unsure of what Dan wanted him to do. He had seen him hug Hermione before, but in the three weeks that Harry had lived with them, Dan had never offered him a hug before. Slowly he entered the arms offered to him as Dan carefully closed them around Harry. Finally, as Dan held him to his chest, Harry let his tears flow as he had never let them flow before and held on to Dan as if he were a life line. _'__**Is this what it means to be loved? Does being loved mean being normal? Why could Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia not do this for him? Why did it take strangers to show him what love was all about?'**_

After about ten minutes, Harry had cried himself out. "Sorry about that." Harry said as he dried his tears and sniffled.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, even I cry sometimes."

"But you're a grown man and men don't cry."

"Bull shit. You show me a man that doesn't cry now and then and I'll show you a man with no heart. Any man that's worth his salt cries on occasion. If he loves anything at all, he cries. Believe me." He said with no doubt in his voice. "We need to get back. The girls have another shopping trip planned. School starts in a week and we need to get you and Hermione uniforms."

Harry was a little apprehensive about this, considering the last shopping trip.

Emma comforted him by saying, "Harry, the last time, you were under fed and wearing clothes four times your size. Now you look your age and your clothes fit as they should. If anything, they're a little small. We'll be fine."

It was true; Harry was almost as tall as Hermione now. He had filled out and looked healthy.

It was a Saturday and the shopping trip went without a hitch. Dan would have to show him how to tie a tie, but that's what fathers were for, right. Dan was beginning to think of himself as Harry's father. Harry was too easy going and lovable not too. Aside from getting school uniforms, they also got Harry some jeans, slacks and some casual dress shirts.

John called on Sunday and told Dan to look in tomorrows post for a registered letter. It should have their court date for later in the week for Harry's custody. The letter went to their clinic, as it had to be signed for. Finally, things were starting to look up.

When Dan and Emma got home that night, "Harry, we got a letter in the mail today that concerns you." Fear entered his eyes. "No Harry it's not bad. The court date will enable us to become your guardians. That is if you want us to be your guardians." Emma told him.

"Heck yeah!" he exclaimed. "When?"

"This Wednesday at ten in the morning. You'll need to look your best."

"I'll have bells on if it will help."

"I don't think that will be necessary, but the thought is nice." She replied with a smile.

Tuesday night Found Harry too excited to sleep. Tomorrow he would truly be part of a family.

They arrived at the courthouse at half nine as instructed to let the clerk know that they were there. Harry couldn't sit still.

Hermione gently wrapped him in a hug, "Excited much." She whispered in his ear.

"Does it show?" he smirked. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"No, I don't imagine I do, but I am very happy for you Harry."

"Thanks Hermione." He whispered and rested his head on her shoulder. She always could make him feel at ease.

/

Judge Matthias was a stern looking woman sitting high in the courtroom, studying the papers in front of her.

"Mr. Potter, take the witness chair, please." She waited until Harry was settled.

"Do you know why we are here?"

"Yes Ma'am." He said nervously.

"How do you feel about the Grangers?"

"They're great people. Loads better then where I had been."

"Would you mind explaining that please?"

"They care for me. My relatives hated me. The Grangers allow me to eat all that I want. I had to steal food before."

"What makes you think that they hated you?"

Harry dropped is head and mumbled something she didn't quite hear. "I'm sorry Mr. Potter, I didn't hear you. You'll have to speak up."

He looked at Hermione, pleading with his eyes for her to come to him.

Hermione stood up, "Your Honor, my I stand by Harry's side?"

"Miss…?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Why should I allow you to do that? It might appear that you are coaching him."

"Look at him Your Honor. He's scared and he looks to me for comfort. All I want to do is hold his hand."

Judge Matthias studied Harry for a moment. Harry looked at her briefly, but in that brief look she saw his fear. "It is highly unorthodox in a proceeding like this, but I will allow it. Just remember Miss Granger, you are to say nothing to him."

"Yes Your Honor. Thank you Your Honor." She stood next to Harry and held his hand.

"Now Mr. Potter, Why do you think your relatives hate you?"

"They tell me so, they tell me I'm worthless and don't deserve love, that I'm a freak."

"Mr. Potter, I want you to look at me when you answer my next question."

Harry turned to look straight at her.

"Have they ever hit you?"

Harry's lower lip started to tremble and tears started to swell in his eyes, but he didn't speak. Soon, his body started to shake. Hermione engulfed him in her arms trying to calm his fears. "You have to tell her, Harry."

Harry looked at the judge, "Yes."

"Often?"

"Yes."

"How often?"

"Two to three times a week." He whimpered.

"How bad were you hurt?"

"It would depend on what I did, or how mad they were. Usually just bruises or a cracked rib. Other times it was broken bones. Sometimes he would bring out his favorite belt. I hated that belt."

"Why did you hate that belt? What was special about it?"

"It was studded and if I screamed, he would just hit me more."

"Where did he hit you with this belt?"

"My back mostly."

"Lift your shirt and let me see your back."

"Nooo!" He looked at Hermione. "Please Hermione, you promised I wouldn't have to do it again."

"Is it that bad Miss Granger?"

"I don't know, he won't let me see. My parents have."

"Mr. Granger, have you seen his back?"

"Yes I have Your Honor. And as a health care professional I can honestly say that unless you have a strong stomach, I suggest you don't look. Harry has been with us for three weeks so they have had time to heal some, but it is still not a pretty sight."

"Mr. Potter, I must insist that you let me see your back."

"It's for the best Harry." Harry stood and turned his back to the judge. Hermione closed her eyes as she lifted his shirt. When she had it half way up his back, the judge stopped her.

"How many times has he done this to you?"

"I lost track. Not something you really want to remember, now is it?"

"No I suppose not. Did they ever take you to see a doctor for your injuries?"

"No."

"Never?"

"Never."

"Who took care of your injuries?" The judge was trying very hard not to show emotions, but it was very hard.

"I did as best I could."

"Now this is very important, if you had the power to do anything, what would you like to see happen to your relatives?"

"If I never had to see them again, that would suit me just fine." He said.

"That's all?" She asked in wonder. After everything that he had been through, she thought he would want some sort of revenge.

"All I ever wanted was to be a part of a family. The Grangers want to give me that. What more could I want?"

"Very well. You my step down."

After harry had returned to his seat with the Grangers and Mr. Gulliver, "I have presided over many custody hearings and I have to say that this is the most Heartbreaking and the most heart warming that I have ever witnessed. What this boy has been through tares even at my heart, and I have been called heartless. Then to see how he reacts to your daughter and hear how he feels about all of you is heart warming. It is my judgment that Dan and Emma Granger should be awarded custody of one Harry James Potter." She banged her gavel at this point. "Case dismissed. Have a wonderful life Mr. Potter."

"Thank you Your Honor."

As the Grangers left the courtroom, Judge Matthias called her clerk into her chambers.

"That young man may not want vengeance, but I do. I want the Dursleys investigated. I want every piece of evidence that you can find on that family. They will pay for what they did to that boy. I don't care what it is. I want them to pay."

The clerk had never seen her boss take an interest in a case before, but she knew that when you riled her, you were in deep trouble. She felt sorry for these Dursleys, whoever they are.

/

"Well, Harry how do you want to celebrate?" Dan asked as they left the courthouse.

"How about pizza with everything on it?" he asked excitedly.

"That's sounds fine by me." Everybody agreed.

"Tomorrow we have to get you registered for school."

"Way to bring down a celebration, Dad." Hermione said.

"You're not excited about school?"

"Of course I am, but Harry's not. Not yet anyway." She said with a mischievous grin.

Unknown to Hermione, Harry was actually looking forward to going to school with her. He never had before, but now he had something to prove, both to himself and to his new family. He intended to be the best he could be, they deserved it for having cared for him.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Don't own Potter and friends just this plot. I would like to thank all the reviewers. Most are thought provoking. I am writing this as it comes to me. I have some idea where this will go, but it will take time to get there.

Chapter 9: School Begins

Harry, Emma, and Hermione left early on Monday morning to get Harry registered on the first day of school. Harry was a little nervous because it was a new school, but he was also excited because he would be with Hermione and wanted to do well. There were no problems with the records that Emma presented, almost all of the disciplinary records were removed, and they were soon escorted to their classroom. The headmaster introduced them to Miss Tomas, (Toe-mas) their teacher, who in turn introduced them to the class.

"Most of you remember Hermione from last year, and this is Harry Potter. As I understand it, he is staying with the Grangers now. He will be with us for the remainder of the year. Please make him welcome."

The only seats available at the moment, were at the back of the class. As Harry and Hermione made their way to their seats, several snide remarks were made towards Hermione. Harry got his back up immediately.

"Let it go Harry." Hermione whispered.

"Beaver teeth got a boyfriend," was whispered from somewhere close by followed by giggling. Harry was used to snide remarks, but this was Hermione they were talking bout.

Hermione could see the stress building in Harry and placed a hand on Harry's arm. "No Harry. They're not worth it. Come on let's sit down."

Class settled down and Harry really appreciated the hard work that Hermione put in towards Harry's education. They were the only ones that seemed prepared for the school year. Even if his hand didn't shoot up as fast as hers did or as often, they always had their hands up to answer any question the teacher asked.

At first, the other kids tried to verbally pick on Harry. He heard four eyes, scar head, and bookworm most often. These just rolled off him like water off a ducks back. It frustrated them. It was weeks later when they found what would get under his skin. It was at the same time, weeks later that it seemed to Harry that the teacher often ignored the fact Hermione had her hand up for every question and it bothered him. He stayed in at the beginning of lunch one day, to ask Miss Tomas about this. He stood in the classroom a little unsure of himself, after all teachers had never listened to him before.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, what can I do for you?" she asked.

"Why do you ignore Hermione?"

Puzzled by his statement, she said, "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"A lot of times when she has her hand up, clearly knowing the answer, you refuse to call on her. Why is that?"

She thought about it for a minute. "I know she knows the book answers. When she answers it's like she is reading it right out of the book."

"It's still the right answer though isn't it?"

"Yes it is, but…"

"But what? Either it's right or it's wrong."

"It's not that simple. Any one can memorize a book, but what have they truly learned from it. If they can't understand the meaning behind the words, then the words mean nothing."

"Have you ever explained that to her? Have your ever took the time to get to know Hermione? Books and knowledge are her world, at least they were. Did you know it hurts her when you don't call on her? And then the other kids pick on her. Did you know that?"

She thought for a minute. "No, I didn't know any of that. Would you have her come see me after our last class today so I can talk to her?"

With a smile on his face he said, "It would be my pleasure," and walked out of the classroom to find Hermione.

Miss Tomas couldn't get over how polite the young boy was.

As unhappy as he was about the way Miss Tomas treated Hermione, it was nothing compared to what he was when he found her. There was a tree that they sat under during lunch that had always been her favorite. She was there now, only she wasn't alone.

"Where's your little boyfriend? Did you forget to pay him?" he heard one of the girls taunt her.

"What you reading bookworm?" one of the boys asked as he tore the book out of her hands.

"Give that back. That's a school book." She hollered.

"That's your problem now isn't it?" He said as he tore pages out of the book.

Harry got there just as he dropped the pages in a mud puddle. "You will pay for that book and you WILL apologize to Hermione. All of you." Harry said forcefully.

"And who's going to make us? You?" the biggest one said as the others laughed.

"If I have to, yes."

It wasn't long until they were all fighting. To be fair to Harry, he was dealing with four and he had never learned how to fight. Survival before meant being able to run faster. With Hermione's safety at stake, that was no longer an option.

When it was over, they were all headed for the headmaster's office, led by one of the teachers.

"Harry what got into you? Look at yourself? What's Dad going to say about you fighting?" Harry did look bad. His shirt was torn, he had a bloody nose, and probably several bruised ribs.

He smirked, "He'll probably ask if I won." He was rather proud for having stood up for her after all she had done for him.

Hermione looked at the ceiling exasperated, rolled her eyes, and murmured "Boys."

"Hermione?" he said softly.

"Yes Harry."

"Miss Tomas wants to speak with you after class today." He said sheepishly.

"What have you done now?"

"You wound me Hermione. What makes you think I did anything?"

"Harry? Aren't you in enough trouble?"

"Honest Hermione, I'm not in trouble with Miss Tomas." He held his hands up in front of him in surrender. "I maybe with you though." He whispered. He wasn't sure how she would take it when she found out he had talked to their teacher about her. He was only trying to help her after all.

When they had finally been admitted to the headmaster's office and he asked what had happened, they all tried to speak at once. All that is, except Harry. He remained quite in the back of the room. The headmaster noticed that he was the only one not trying to make himself heard and he was the worst looking one of the group.

"You there, in the back. Step forward." Harry reluctantly stepped forward. "What is your name? Tell me your version of what happened."

"Harry Potter, sir. I wasn't there for all of it."

"Well tell me what you do know."

"Well, when I arrived where we normally eat lunch, one of the girls was teasing Hermione that I wasn't around and she couldn't keep a boyfriend without paying him. Then the big olf here took her book, tore the pages out of it, and threw it in the mud. I told them they would pay to replace the book and then they would apologize to her. That's pretty much when punches started to fly."

"Miss Granger, is that true?"

Hermione was studying her shoes, "Yes sir."

"I'm surprised at you, Miss Granger. Always before, you came to us for help."

"Yes I did and I would have this time too, except Harry's not the type to trust teachers. Besides, has my coming to you stopped the bullying that I face everyday?"

"Is it truly that bad?"

"Yes, although this is the first time it got so physical, the verbal abuse is the same."

"Are you the only one?"

"I doubt it," she sniffed. "I'm sure that even some of these people have been teased or bullied in one form or another."

"Surely it's not that bad." The headmaster placated.

"Did anyone ever make fun of you while you were growing up?"

"Yes, I'm sure we have all experienced it at one time or another."

"Did it hurt?"

"At the time, yes."

"Imagine that happening everyday. Imagine going to people you trusted and they fixed the problem for that day. Then imagine what you would look like if you had to go to those same people day after day for the same reason. What do you think those people would think of you?"

He thought for a few minutes, letting what she said sink in, "They would probably think of you as a whiner."

"Exactly. There is no way for us to deal with bullying without looking like crybabies, so we say nothing." The last part of her statement was very soft.

"I will look into this, I promise Miss Granger." He wrote something on a pad of paper.

"Now to deal with today's altercation. All of you will serve detention tomorrow after classes are over for the day. This will give you time to inform your parents that you will be late leaving school. Another altercation and you will be suspended for three days. John Sullivan, you will pay for the book you destroyed. Now go to your class."

It was a solemn group that left the headmasters office. Somewhere thinking about what was said, others were plotting revenge.

"That was quite a speech in there, Hermione." Harry whispered.

"Thanks Harry. I probably wouldn't have if you hadn't stood up for me out there at lunch."

"You're stronger than you think, Hermione."

The rest of the day passed without any more remarks whispered. When the final bell rang, "Miss Granger, may I speak with you for a moment?" Miss Tomas asked.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"I'll wait for you in the hall." Harry said.

After Harry had gathered his books and stepped out, "It would seem you have found your Prince Charming." Miss Tomas said.

Hermione looked at her puzzled, "Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Mr. Potter is quite protective of you, Miss Granger. Damsel in distress and all that."

Hermione blushed, "I'm sure you're mistaken, Miss Tomas."

"Am I? Taking on four lads in your defense, talking to me about neglecting you in class. I don't think I am wrong."

She tilted her head slightly to the left, a puzzled look on her face, and asked, "How do you neglect me in class?"

"Mr. Potter noticed I have a habit of passing over you when the class is asked a question and wanted to know why. He said it bothers you when I do that."

"I just assumed it was to give others a chance to answer, even if it is wrong or incomplete."

"That is part of it, but not the main reason."

Hermione was curious now, "What is the main reason?"

"As I told Mr. Potter, anyone can memorize a text book and recite the answers, but a true scholar examines the meaning of the words they read. When you give an answer in class, it's as if you are reading right out of the book. What I want is for you to think about what you have read and form your answer from that, not just the details. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I think so. It may take a while for it to sink in, but yes, I think I do. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, Miss Tomas."

"Any time Miss Granger. If I were you, I would find a way to thank Mr. Potter properly. He cares a great deal for you. Good day."

Hermione left the classroom and found Harry waiting in the hall, just as he said he would. She looked at him in a different light. She would turn her head and look at him for a few seconds every now and then.

"What?" he asked as he walked her home.

"Nothing, I'm just trying to figure you out."

"I'm not complicated Hermione. I'm just a guy." He said and gave her that lopsided grin of his.

"**No Harry, you're definitely not just a guy**."

When Dan and Emma came home that evening, Harry had already fixed diner, something he rarely did anymore. Emma was immediately suspicious, but she said nothing.

When diner was just about over, Harry asked Dan. "Can you teach me how to fight?"

"Why do you need to learn how to fight?"

"I pretty much got my butt kicked today and I don't want it to happen again."

"Oh. What happened?"

Harry explained what happened at lunch. "I will not leave her alone like that again." After which Hermione said, "We have to serve detention after school tomorrow because of the fighting."

"I was wondering why you fixed diner." Emma said with a knowing grin.

"Emma, you wound me," Harry exclaimed putting his right hand over his heart dramatically. "Do you think I would stoop to bribery?"

"Yes Harry. I do." She was delighted at the banter with Harry at home. Hermione had told her that he was still reserved at school

Harry stuck out his lower lip and pouted. Then he laughed.

"Yes Harry, on top of everything else I will teach you to defend yourself."

"May I join too." asked Hermione.

"Why Princess?"

"I got knocked about a bit today and I didn't like it any more than Harry. I want to be able to defend myself."

"It won't be easy. The physical training you have been doing will get harder." He warned.

"I don't want to have to depend on Harry every time something comes up. No offence, Harry. Plus, I will know he has my back and I will have his."

"None taken, Hermione." He was excited that she wanted to be able to protect herself as well as look out for him.

Dan thought about this for a long time, remembering what it was like to be bullied as a boy. If it was just Hermione he would not have considered it as it was unlady like to fight and like all fathers, he didn't want her to get hurt.

"Okay, I'll have to buy some more equipment to put in the basement. Then we will have to set up a schedule for training."

It was not easy to fit in the additional training in the martial arts. Their day started at five every morning for a run, then regular physical exercise before school. Studying and home work after school, the few chores they had, which mainly constituted keeping their rooms clean and doing the dishes and mild cleaning. What little relaxation they had during the week just got smaller.

Weekends were not empty either. Aside from exercising, Madam Longbottom came and for four hours every Saturday, she would teach all of them the rules, laws, and traditions of the ancient and noble houses as well as those for the general populace. On Sunday, Aunt Mini, as they came to call her, would teach them the principles and history behind magic. She brought several books on magic theory for charms, defense against the dark arts and transfiguration. They would have to wait on their wands until Christmas. She did give them some sticks that were the same size and weight as a wand so they could practice the movements.

"Do you think we are putting too much on the kids?" Emma asked Dan one day.

"Maybe, but they seem to be taking it in stride." Dan was deep in thought for a few minutes. "Maybe we should schedule a break for one weekend and get a way. Let the kids really have some fun. It's been a while since we went out as a family."

"That sounds like a great idea. Let's talk to Mini and Mrs. Longbottom this weekend and see what they think."

"Madam Longbottom, we realize that it may not seem like a long time since you started lessons with us, but we feel the kids need a break. Aside from what you teach us they have a very physical as well as academic schedule that fills almost every hour of their day. We would like to take next weekend off so the kids can have some fun for a change. We don't want to rob them of their childhood completely. Do you agree?" Emma asked after they had finished for the day. It was mid October and they wanted to get in this time before it got too cold to be out.

They watched as Harry and Hermione played tag with each other in the backyard.

The stern looking matriarch considered what she had said and what she had asked. "I know of their schedule and I can tell you I am amazed at all that they have to do everyday. There is not a pureblood child that would be able to keep up with them physically or mentally either. Harry is still a bit shy, and that may work to his advantage at first. I also agree that they do need some time to be children. My Neville is smart, and his magic is better with a new wand. I wish I could introduce him to Harry and Hermione. I think that they would have a good influence on him."

"I don't think there are many children that can keep up with them, but that is beside the point. They need a break and need to be with others their age. Especially Harry so he can see what a normal childhood is like. Why don't we speak to Mini and see if we can't get her to change her mind about him? I think it would be a good idea if they could get to know a magically raised child. It would benefit both I think. Would he be able to give the oath that the others gave for secrecy?" Dan asked.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay. Had this chapter done, thought it was posted and then found out it was lost, and had to rewrite the whole thing. Don't own Harry and friends, just this plot.

Chapter 10: New friends.

After getting Mini to agree that the kids needed some time off, and that it might not hurt to meet some of the children from allied houses, she said she would make the arrangements.

"The question now is; when do you want us to bring the children?" Mini asked.

"Could we make a weekend of it? Starting on Friday and end Sunday evening?" replied Emma.

"Do you want to put up with that many children for two days?" asked Augusta.

"Well that would depend on how many children we are talking about."

"I was thinking of six children." Mini said.

"I think we could handle that many unless they become rowdy."

"I doubt that will be a problem. You have to remember that these children come from noble houses and maybe more restrained than Harry and Hermione."

"Then they shouldn't be a problem at all. Let's start on Friday evening with just the children, that way they get a chance to get to know each other. Then on Saturday, those parents are going to join us can arrive, by say eight, to start the day. It's about an hour drive to the amusement park. How many adults will be coming?" Dan asked.

"I had thought just you two, myself, and Augusta."

"What about clothing? I notice you are always in robes. You would hardly blend in dressed as you are." Emma asked.

"We hadn't thought about that. Perhaps we could arrange a shopping trip."

Emma thought for a few minutes. "Dan, do you think it would be all right if Harry and Hermione missed one day of school?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking that if these kids need to buy clothes, Harry and Hermione could help them pick them out. Our fashion sense is not the same as theirs after all. That way they would look like they fit in better. It would also give them a chance to get to know each other."

"Why don't we ask them?"

Emma went to the back door, as Harry and Hermione were in the backyard. Harry had a touch for gardening, and although not required, he loved to tend the garden even this late in the year there were things that needed to be done. "Hermione, Harry, would come in here for a few minutes?"

After washing their hands, Hermione and Harry joined the grown-ups in the living room.

"What's up, Mum?" asked Hermione.

"We are trying to make plans for next weekend and came across a slight problem."

"How can we help?"

"We thought it would be a good idea if you two took a break and went on an outing as a family. We also thought it might be good for you to meet some children from the magical world. The problem is; they don't dress the way we do. We thought that maybe you two could help them pick out some clothes. We were wondering if you two would mind missing a day of school to help." Emma explained.

"MISS A DAY OF SCHOOL?" Hermione asked scandalized.

"Hermione, we are easily three weeks ahead of the rest of the class. One day will not hurt us," reasoned Harry. "Besides, it might be fun."

She looked at Harry as if he had lost his mind.

"Think about it Hermione. We will be joining their world next year. Wouldn't it be nice to see it from their point of view and maybe even have some friends before we start? I mean it's not like we are over burdened with friends, now are we?"

She bit her lower lip as she thought. "I suppose you're right. It wouldn't hurt on either point." She paused, "I don't suppose one day would hurt."

"Thanks Hermione."

"Good. I'll send a note with you tomorrow for your teacher to let her know that you will miss school next Friday." Emma said in relief.

The next four days were met with some trepidation and anxiety about meeting the kids from a different world. How much different would they be? Could they accept them as equals? Would Harry and Hermione be seen as lesser?

On Friday morning, Harry found Hermione quite nervous about meeting the new kids. "Relax, Hermione. Their just kids like us.' He said as he hugged her. 'They are probably just as nervous being in our world for the first time." He tried to reassure her.

She looked into his emerald green eyes, comforted by his presence. "You're right Harry. I didn't think about that. Thank you." She said as she rested her head on his shoulder. This was something that they had become quite used to when one of them needed comforted for one reason or another. Even though Hermione grew up with and loved her parents dearly, Harry's presence had always seemed to give her more comfort for some reason.

Because of the changes in their life, Dan and Emma had decided to take on another dentist into their practice so that if one of them had to take the day off to cover some business concerning the children, they had someone to cover for them. After all, they did have a business and their patients shouldn't suffer because they had other issues that needed to be taken care of. It would depend on the nature of the need to take the day off that determined which would be absent. Today it would be Emma that stayed home to greet their guest and take them shopping. Dan drove the Mercedes and left the Land Rover for Emma, as it would carry more people. Still it would take more than one trip to get them all to the shopping center.

Minerva and Augusta arrived in the Granger living room with six children, four girls, and two boys. After seeing the girls, Hermione felt inferior. They were all very pretty, even at their age. Five years of ridicule didn't help her self esteem. Harry, knowing how the kids at school berated her, he could sense her feeling of self worth.

"What's the problem, Hermione?"

"Look at them Harry, they're all so pretty."

"You're just as pretty as they are. Don't let it bother you."

"How can you say that Harry? Look at their hair and their teeth."

Harry did take a moment to look at them. "I don't see the problem Hermione. What do you see that I don't?"

She looked at him as if he was blind. "Harry, my front teeth are too large and my hair is out of control. How can you compare me to them?"

Harry thought about what he wanted to say. He didn't want to insult Hermione, but he wanted her to look past what she considered as faults in her looks. "Hermione, do you think any of the girls we go to school with are prettier than you?"

"Of course I do. Almost all of them are."

"No, Hermione. None of them are prettier then you. I think you are the prettiest girl in the school. I'm biased of course, but you have to remember beauty is only skin-deep. True beauty comes from here.' He pointed to her heart. "That is were you outshine them all, Hermione. I know you and I know that if they gave you half a chance you would help any of them. Would they do the same? Apparently not as they have not done so yet. Personally, I like your hair. It reflects your spirit, wild and untamable. Who could notice your teeth when you smile and light up the room?"

"Thank you Harry, but I think you are wrong about being untamable." She said looking into his eyes, no trace of deceit to be seen.

"How so?"

"You seem to be able to tame me quite easily." Harry turned slightly red at the compliment.

"Harry, Hermione, I would like to introduce Susan Bones (a red headed girl with pale green eyes), Hannah Abbott (brunette with brown eyes), Daphne Greengrass (wavy black hair and grey eyes), Tracey Davis (had shoulder length blonde hair with blue eyes), Neville Longbottom (a heavy set boy with sandy brown hair and brown eyes) and Terry Boot (blonde hair and brown eyes)." At each child's introduction, they stepped forward and shook hands. "Children, meet Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."

The six magical children had been told that they would be meeting someone today, but not who. To say that they were shocked would be an understatement.

"Potter! We thought they were all dead." Susan exclaimed.

Harry cringed and dropped his head at the mention of his family's death. Even though he couldn't remember them, it still hurt.

"We were all lied to. I can assure you that he is in deed Harry Potter. You cannot speak of meeting him to any one. Is that understood?" Minerva said sternly.

"Yes Ma'am." They chorused together.

"Now then, the first order of business is to make sure you have clothes that will pass for mundane."

"Why?" asked Daphne.

"Because for the next two days you will be in the mundane world and have to fit in."

When they responded that they did not, they were told of going shopping for new clothes. The boys could care less, but the girls were excited at the mention of shopping.

"When will we go to Diagon Alley?" Daphne asked.

"We won't be going to the Alley. We will shop at a local store here in Stanford Hills. Be careful not to mention magic while out in public."

The girls were slightly disheartened to hear this. They had no idea of the wide verity of clothes they would be exposed to in the next few hours.

With a flick of her wand, Minerva expanded the inside of the Land Rover to accommodate all of the children and adults. A short half hour drive had them at the shopping center and with careful spacing; the mundanes at the shopping mall never noticed the number of people getting out of the single vehicle.

Once inside, the magical children were amazed at the number of people. There were more here then in all of Diagon Alley. They were also amazed at the number and variety of the shops. Even though Harry had been here a few times, he was still amazed at some of the things for sale.

When they got to the clothing store that they intended to shop in, they split up. Minerva took the boys and Emma and Madam Longbottom went with the girls. Harry did his best to explain the different types of slacks and jeans, recommending that the boys all get jeans for all round comfort and utility. Then they got a couple of shirts, sweaters and jackets. All told they were done in less than an hour. Then they went to see how the girls were doing.

When they arrived, Daphne was just coming out of the dressing room. She was wearing a pair of slacks that hugged her waist and accented her bottom before falling straight to her ankles. She also had a long sleeve slip over with a V neck that came down a couple of inches below her throat. Neville and Terry were fascinated by the look even if they didn't understand yet why. Harry only had eyes for Hermione. He would look at the others and pay compliments on how different outfits looked, but he wasn't really paying attention.

Two hours later, the girls finally finished choosing what they would wear that weekend.

"It's about time." Terry complained even if secretly he enjoyed the way the girls looked as they tried on different clothes.

"Hush you." Daphne said. She took the longest to decide what to wear. Hermione told her that a lot of her choices were not practical for their outing the next day and had to change often. You could tell she was trying to impress and flaunt her good looks.

As they were headed for check out they passed the lingerie department. The boys wisely left as they girls browsed this section. When asked why there were so many different types, Hermione responded, "While I don't know for certain, I understand that it makes older girls feel better about them selves even if no one sees them."

"Do you have any of these?" asked Daphne, hold up a pair of black lace knickers.

Hermione blushed. "No, I don't feel a need for something like that yet. I'm only eleven after all."

The girls giggled and headed for the checkout.

With purchases paid for they decided to eat lunch at the food court. Each person tried something different. There was pizza, hero sandwiches, hamburgers, and hot dogs to name a few. Soft drinks were another hit. After everyone ate, they spent two hours window shopping with Harry, Hermione and Emma explaining as best they could what the various items were for and how they operated. Finally arriving at the Granger home the girls raced up to Hermione's room to change.

"How can they have so much energy after all that? I'm beat." Neville asked as he trudged up the stairs to Harry's room that he would share with Terry.

"I don't know for sure, but I think its part of the female make up to be able to wear us out shopping," remarked Harry.

"You've been through this before?" asked Terry.

"Oh yes, at least once a month."

"How do you stand it?"

"It makes them happy." He shrugged. "You'll find that if the women in the house are happy, you will be happy."

"But aren't women supposed to serve us?" asked Terry.

"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked looking at Terry strangely.

"Well…" he said nervously, "in our world many believe that women are just for making babies and serving men, making us happy."

"I don't know if that's true or not in the muggle world as I don't have any friends to compare to, but in this house that idea would never fly, and I wouldn't want it too."

"Soo… what do you guys do for fun?" asked Harry.

"I have a green house where I grow a variety of plants." Neville injected, glad for the change of topic.

"Really?" asked Harry enthusiastically. "I wish it was summer so you could see the garden here in all its glory. Maybe next summer you could come over and help me with a problem area."

"I'd like that. I've never seen a totally non-magical garden before."

"What do you like to do Terry?"

"I like to fly on my broom. I want to get on my house Quidditch team."

"You mean witches actually fly on brooms? I thought that was a fairy tale."

"Of course we do. What makes you think different?"

"Muggles have all sort of strange stories about witches and wizards. Aside from the clothes, I haven't seen anything that resembles the stories."

"What kind of stories?" asked Neville.

Harry thought for a minute. "Well, if we can talk the girls into it, I know just the movie to watch tonight."

"What's a movie?" asked Neville.

Harry hesitated for a moment. "It's a story set to moving pictures."

During dinner that evening Harry put forth his idea.

"Hermione, what do you think of watching the 'Wizard of Oz'? While I was talking to Neville and Terry, I found out they do fly on brooms and I thought it would be funny for them to see what muggles think of as witches."

"That's a great idea. I always loved that movie."

"What's a movie?" asked Susan.

"You'll see." Giggled Hermione, "and I think you'll find it funny after what we actually found out that your world is real."

After dinner and the dishes cleaned up, they all gathered in the family room to watch the movie. Susan, Hannah, Daphne and Tracey sat on the couch facing the television. The boys sat on cushions in front of them. Terry looked slightly put out by the arrangement, but said nothing. Augusta and Minerva took the two wing back chairs and Dan and Emma brought chairs in from the dinning room and sat behind the couch.

Hermione found the movie and then started to explain the various items that they were going to use. "This is a television; it allows us to watch various shows. Every house that has one can watch the same show at the same time or watch different shows. This is a VCR. When you put in a pre-recorded movie like this," she held up a tape, "you can watch the movie anytime you want, not at a pre-set time as with regular television. Now you have to understand that what we are going to watch is not based on fact, but on someone's' imagination." She then turned on the television and loaded the tape in the VCR and took her seat next to Harry on the floor.

Two hours later, after many belly laughs and two bowls of popcorn, it was time for bed.

The next morning found eight excited children and four adults hurrying through breakfast. Dan and Emma had decided that since they enjoyed different type of music, they would change the radio station every half hour to give the magical a taste of a variety of music. Dan loved Classic Rock and Roll and Emma preferred classical music.

Nine o'clock found them pulling into the amusement park. Being Harry's first time to the park, he was as amazed as the rest of the children. Hermione had only been once before as it not as much fun if you don't have friends to share with. Harry was fascinated by the merry-go-round with its mystical creatures to ride. The favorite with the boys had to be the roller coasters with the wind whipping through their hair.

The only incident happened when some older boys decided to pick on the girls. Harry stepped in between them and it might have come to blows if Dan hadn't showed up and told them to move along. The only break the adults had was when they forced the kids to stop for lunch around one in the afternoon.

It was late in the day when Harry was able to talk Mione into riding the largest Ferris wheel in the park. It must have been at least a hundred feet high.

"Harry, please I really don't want to ride this."

"Why Hermione? It's the tamest ride in the park outside the Merry-go-round."

"It's the height Harry. I don't like heights."

"I'll make you a deal. Ride with me and the whole time I'll hold you tight and you can keep your eyes closed. I'll do my best to describe what I see and how I feel. Please ride with me?" he pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

"That's no fair, double teaming me like that."

The first time at the top, Harry held her tight with his left arm around her shoulder and her left hand in his right. He really tried to describe the view, the way the lights out lined the design of the city, the skies above. The second time as he was describing the stars, Hermione squinted to see. The third tome she opened her eyes fully. "Wow! It really is beautiful up here isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is." He said, sighing as he relaxed but still held her close.

By six in the evening all were worn out and ready to head for home.

Dinner that night consisted of sandwiches as no one felt like eating a lot.

"Harry is a little protective of you, isn't he?" Daphne asked with a hint of jealousy after the girls met in Hermione's room.

"I suppose, but then they were picking on all of us weren't they? So I suppose he was protecting all of us." Hermione replied with a hint of pride.

"Imagine having your own knight in shining armor living under your roof." Susan said dreamily.

"I'm sure you're reading more into than there is." defended Hermione. She would never be able to tell these girls her dreams now.

"Oh, come on, Hermione. Surely even you have dreamed of a knight in shining armor rescuing you?" teased Hannah.

"Doesn't every girl, but how often do we find one?" She stretched and yawned. "I don't know about you but I'm ready for bed. I have to get up early."

"On a Sunday?" Daphne asked sounding scandalized that anybody got up early.

"Yes. Harry and I get up at five every morning for training and exercise."

Daphne could be heard to mumble "muggles" as she and Tracey left the room.

"Is this training and exercise why you look so good?" Hannah asked.

"I suppose it is. I mean the exercises do keep the fat burnt off."

Sunday morning found the magical waking around ten in the morning. When they came down for breakfast, they found Harry and Hermione in the study reading. When they entered the Kitchen, Emma asked what they wanted for breakfast and started to prepare their request. Dan was sitting there drinking tea.

"How long has Harry been up" inquired Neville?

Dan looked at his watch. "I would say about five hours."

"Hermione too?" asked Susan.

"Yeah." He replied as if it was obvious.

"Why?" asked Tracey.

"It's a routine they set for themselves."

"That still doesn't explain why." Said Daphne.

"Not long after Harry started going to school with Hermione, some other kids started picking on her. Harry tried to stop it and got beat up. He decided he wanted to learn how to fight so it wouldn't happen again. Hermione wanted to be able to defend herself."

"He didn't want what to happen again? Being beat up or Hermione being picked on?" asked Hannah.

Dan smiled, "Take your pick."

After breakfast, Harry and Hermione gave their new friends a tour of the house and the neighborhood. They spent an hour in the local park on the swings, bars and playing tag. Then they all explored the house library.

Around six that evening, Madam Longbottom and Minerva arrived to see how the day went, ate dinner and then returned the children home. All in all it was a fun weekend for all and a needed diversion for Harry and Hermione.

**A/N: **Sorry for the long delay. Life got in the way.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Author's note

For those that have read this from the start, I wanted you to know that I went through my story from the beginning and made several corrections. Some are minor grammar and some are at the advice of reviewers. Thank you for reading and taking an interest in this tale.


	12. Chapter 12

**A.N./**Don't own Harry Potter characters.

Chapter 11: Old Enemies - New Friends

When Harry and Hermione returned to school on Monday morning, they were more relaxed and it showed. It felt nice knowing that they had met some new kids and hopefully made some new friends. After talking to Miss Tomas about the way she treated Hermione, they spent one night a week after the end of class showing Hermione the proper way to respond to questions. That is to give short concise answers. Harry also used this time to get help with his penmanship.

It had been a month since the incident on the playground. There had been some pushing and shoving, but no fighting. Even that stopped after Harry had learned enough about fighting. John Sullivan had tried to shove Harry, but when he side stepped away from him. John tripped and fell. Miss Tomas was there at the time and confirmed that Harry was not the instigator and did nothing to make John fall.

Wednesday held a surprise to them. Jasmine Johnson, who seemed to torment Hermione the most, approached them as the last bell rang at the end of the day. It was with some concern that they watched her approach.

"Hermione, may I speak with you?" she asked cautiously.

"What about?" Hermione replied suspiciously.

"I know I have treated you badly and have no right to ask, but would you consider helping me and a few others study?"

Hermione thought for awhile. What was she up to? There were no test in the near future besides quizzes which is usually why people wanted to be her friend and then dump her after they had passed.

"Why? After all this time why now?"

"I don't blame you for being suspicious after the way you have been treated, but you have changed and I would like to get to know you. And maybe what ever it was that changed you can change me too. Ever since that day when we all went to the Heads office and you gave your little speech, I and a few others have been thinking about it. As you mentioned, we have all been bullied in one form or another and, well, we would like to start over if we can."

She looked at Harry. "You know them better than I do Hermione. It's your decision. I'll stand by you whatever."

"How many people are we talking about? And who are they?"

"Eight, there's me, Mike Newman, Susan Jones, Debbie McNamara, Shaun O'Toole, Patty and Thom McKinnon and Josh Finnly."

"I still don't understand why, but we'll see. There will have to be some rules. We are not going to waste our time if you aren't serious about this."

"That's understandable."

"Give me a day or two to rearrange our schedule and then we'll try it and see how it goes. Plus we'll all have to get permission from our parents so that they know where we are."

"That's Okay by me and I'm sure the others will agree." She said with a small smile.

"Now the big question is where will we study? How close does everybody live to the library?"

"I'll find out and let you know tomorrow." Jasmine said gleefully as she left.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" asked Harry as they left the school.

"I don't know. Maybe they're telling the truth, they haven't tried to bully or pick on me for awhile now. But I'll believe it when I see it."

"Hmmmm. You don't suppose it's because I effectively beat John's butt the last time? Maybe they were afraid of me." With a steady diet, potions, and exercise, Harry had filled out and developed some muscle. He was still smaller than John, but he was faster and hit harder.

"I don't know. We will have to wait and see."

After they arrived home and deposited their books in the study, they sought out the elder Grangers.

"Mom, I need to talk to you and Dad."

"What about honey?" her mom asked.

"Some of the kids at school want to form a study group with me and Harry. I'm not sure what to do?"

"Why aren't you sure? It sounds like a nice idea."

"I'm not sure because some of the kids are the same ones that used to pick on me before Harry became my protector. I'm not sure what they're after."

"What did they tell you?" Dan asked.

"Jasmine apologized and said that I've changed, whatever she means by that, and wondered if it was possible to study together."

Emma looked at her with a knowing smile and asked, "What was your reply?"

"I would have to think about it and that there would have to be some rules."

"Well that sounds reasonable enough. What sort of rules were you thinking about?" asked Dan.

"I was thinking no horse play, how long we studied, where we meet, and making sure they have their parents consent so that they know where they are."

Dan and Emma looked at each other and smiled, "Those sound like reasonable rules. Let us know what you decide." said Emma.

Harry and Hermione went to the study on the second floor of their house to talk about things.

"What do you think Harry?"

"I don't know Hermione, you know them better than I do. I haven't paid much attention to them as I was trying to concentrate on our studies and make sure we were left alone so I don't have any idea as to how smart they are."

"Hmmm." She said as she bit her lower lip in thought. "Well we could do one of two things, either give them a quiz to see what they know or we could ask Miss Tomas and see were they stand."

"Or we could do both." Harry suggested.

"Why would you suggest that, Harry?"

"Look Hermione, I had to hide how smart I was when I lived at the Dursleys for a reason. Maybe because of bullying, they did the same."

"That makes sense." She said and thought about that for a moment. "Okay we'll do both. Now, when and where?"

"You suggested the library if it's convent for everyone and probably the best time I right after school. We could walk there together."

"Okay. Now how often are we willing to meet with them and how will it affect our study time?"

"Get out your planner and let's look at what we have scheduled."

5A.M. 5K run

6 A.M. physical exercise

7 A.M. Breakfast

8 A.M. - 4 P.M. School

4:30 - 6 P.M. homework/study

6 P.M. diner

7 - 8 P.M. martial arts

8 - 9 P.M. free time

9 P.M. bedtime

"Looks pretty full to me," said Hermione. "How about this? We talk to Mum and Dad, move diner back an hour and do martial arts in the morning instead of exercise since we get plenty of exercise doing that any way. That would leave about an hour to an hour and a half after school for them and still leave us about an hour to make sure we got our studying finished."

"Do we want to do this every day?"

"It will depend on how much or how little they know and how much tutoring they actually need."

"I love smart girls," said Harry causing Hermione to blush slightly at the compliment. "And I agree 100% about the exercise part. I don't see any reason not to combine the two. Let's talk to our parents and see what they think about your plan at diner." They then proceeded with their normal study/homework schedule until diner.

At diner, they showed Dan and Emma what they had decided on as their new schedule and why they did it the way they did.

"I'm impressed. That is a very efficient use of time and I commend you both," said Dan.

The following day after school, they met with Jasmine to find out about what the others had decided and if they could meet in the library. It turned out that all of them wanted to be in on this discussion, which was just a little intimidating at first.

"Jasmine, what have you found out?"

"I talked to the others,' she looked around at the others, 'and they all live within easy walking distance of the library. What we need to know is if you are willing and how long we will be there and how often."

"We rearranged our schedule and depending on how much you need tutoring it can be everyday for about an hour and a half," said Hermione.

"How will you determine how much time we need?" asked Mike.

"We thought that we would ask Miss Tomas and give you a quiz and go from there. Do any of you have a problem with that?" Some of them looked uncomfortable at the mention of a quiz.

"Why would you have to talk to Miss Tomas?"

"In order for us to know what you need to catch up on, we need to know what you know and as Harry pointed out, since you have admitted to being bullied at some point or other, you may be hiding just how smart you really are. Having first hand experience with Harry I have to agree with him."

"How old are you two really?" asked Shaun.

"He's ten and I'm eleven."

"You could've fooled me. You sound more like Miss Tomas."

Hermione cheeks turned slightly pink. "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult."

"It's not meant to be an insult, but I'm not sure it's a compliment either. Just an observation," defended Shaun.

"Okay, we have a few simple rules will we are studying. No horse play and you have to have your parents signed permission so that they know where you are. Any fooling around and you will be asked to leave. We take studying very seriously. If that is agreeable and your parents agree, we can start next Monday after school."

On Friday they approached Miss Tomas with a list of names. "Miss Tomas, these students have asked to join a study group with us. We would like to know were they stand grade wise so we know what they need the most help with. Any information you can provide would be most helpful." Hermione stated.

Miss Tomas looked at the list then looked at Harry and Hermione. "This is a strange group of students. Are you sure about this, Miss Granger?"

"Not really, but it can't hurt to try. Harry and I know going into this the possibility of deceit, so we will be prepared. We still want to try."

"Very well, give me until the end of the day to check their records."

"That will be fine Miss Tomas and thank you."

They spent several hours over the weekend deciding the best way to use their time to the best advantage. Though they all needed some help in everything, some needed more help than others and in different subjects. Monday found ten students headed for the local library with mixed emotions. Some were excited; some were apprehensive, but for the most part eager. By the time they reached the library, six were panting even though it was not that far. Harry and Hermione were the least affected by the walk.

"How can you to not be winded by that forced march?" moaned Mike.

Harry looked puzzled, "that little walk?' he scoffed, 'that's nothing. We run 5k every morning before breakfast."

Thom looked amazed, "You've got to be kidding. Why? I'm into sports and I don't run 5k."

"Maybe some day when we know each other a lot better we'll tell, but not now."

Hermione went straight to the Librarian. "Good afternoon Miss Granger. What can I do for you today?"

"We,' she indicated the others around her, 'will be in here every afternoon and I wanted to give you a list of who we are and their library card numbers for quick reference."

"Thank you. I don't foresee a problem as long as you don't disturb the others here."

"Number one rule, no horse play or they're out of the group." They then proceeded to find a table large enough for all of them.

"Now then after talking to Miss Tomas, we found that you are not in desperate need, but you all could use help to be better. Which I assume is the reason you asked us to help in the first place. Some need more help than others and in different subjects. What we propose is that for the first hour of every session we will cover one or two subjects until you are up to par. The last half hour will be going over the work you have done checking for errors and making suggestions to improve your work. Whether you make the changes or not is up to you.

"To start, I think we should introduce ourselves and give a brief history of ourselves. You all know who I am. My parents are dentist for those that don't know. I love to read."

"I'm Harry. My parents died when I was a baby. I live with the Grangers."

"Not much history there Harry." Shaun said.

"Not much of a life so far that I want to talk about." Harry replied.

"My name is Jasmine. I'm eleven, my mother stays at home and my father deals in stocks. I like rock and roll music."

"I'm Mike, ten years old. I keep to myself mostly. My dad delivers goods all over the country; mom stays home with my younger brother. He'll start school next year.

"Susan Jones. I like all things Goth. The music is to die for. Dad left, Mom works as a clerk."

"Debbie McNamara. I like chamber music and Art Galleries. Don't really know what Dad does but I know we are well off. Mom attends parties more often than not. I don't like boarding schools. Too snobbish." The rest of the group just looked at her. She was considered one of the prissier girls in school.

"Shaun O'Toole. We migrated from Ireland four years ago. Dad's in the army, mom's a secretary for some barrister."

"Patty McKinnon. Maternal twin to the dummy over there. Dads a construction laborer; mom keeps house. Strange as it may seem I like poetry."

"Thom. Yes Patty is my sister as much as I try to deny it. I'm in to most sports. Haven't decided what I want to excel at yet. I favor football more than anything."

"Josh Finnly. I like sports but I don't play. Dad plays for the Fleet Mustangs. Mom works part time as a clerk to help make ends meet."

"Now that we know each other a little and you know what we have planned, there is one other item. We will not meet Wednesday for personal reasons."

They all struggled at first but they soon started to learn from each other. Hermione honed her people skills with help from Harry and her parents.


	13. Chapter 13a

**A/N:** Don't own Harry and friends, just this plot bunny. Still looking for a beta. I try to catch all my errors, but I'm not perfect. There will be a little angst here later in the chapter.

Chapter 13: Life changes After Christmas

As promised, Mini took them to Diagon Alley for the first time during the Christmas Holidays to get their wands. They were no different from any one else seeing the Alley for the first time. They nearly strained their necks trying to see everything at once.

"Take your time; you'll hurt yourself trying to see it all at once. You wouldn't be the first to be treated for a sprained neck. We are in no hurry." Mini told them.

"Could we get our wands first and then look around?" Harry implored.

"Anxious much?" Hermione asked smiling.

Harry just dropped his head and blushed a little. "Just a little," he said with a shy smile.

"Okay, let's put Harry out of his misery so we can enjoy the rest of the Alley." Mini said and led them to Ollivanders.

The shop was old, dark, and musty. Dust motes drifted through the air. Harry could feel a wide variety of magic in the air of the shop. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew it was the wands that he felt.

An old man came out from the back. He gave Harry the creeps with his large silver eyes that never seemed to blink. "Mr. Potter," Everyone jerked at the mention of his name. "a little early to get your wand aren't you? I often wondered if you were still alive."

"H..Ho…How did you know my n-n-name?" Harry stuttered.

"I know every witch or wizard I sell to and I remember every wand I ever sold. Every single one. Seems like just yesterday your parents were in here to buy their wands. Now who first, you or Miss Granger?"

A half-hour and fifty wands later, Hermione had her wand, Vinewood and dragon heartstring.

It took Harry longer before Ollivander brought out the one wand he thought he would never sell, especially to this customer. "Try this one Mr. Potter."

Harry's hand shook as he reached for the wand. He could feel the magic of the wand drawing him to it. It seemed to jump into his hand and as soon as his hand touched it, he felt a warm tingle flow from the wand through his body. The tip of the wand glowed and emitted a shower of golden sparks lighting up the entire shop without Harry moving it.

"Clearly a powerful match. Holly and phoenix feather. I haven't seen the like since…. Since I sold its brother. Curious you should be chosen by that wand Mr. Potter."

"W-w-what's curious?" he asked hesitantly.

"Curious because its' brother killed your family and more than likely gave you that scar." Harry dropped the wand; fear flooded him as it had never before. "We can expect great things from you Mr. Potter, after all He-who-must-not-be-named did great things. Terrible, yes, but great." He handed Harry the wand. Harry took it cautiously, not sure he wanted a wand any more. "Do not fear the wand, Mr. Potter; fear the one that uses it, for they are the ones that are evil." Harry thought about the correlation to the saying about guns in his world and felt a little better. He gave them wand holsters as a gift. "Oh and Mr. Potter, mums the word."

"Thank you Mr. Ollivander." Harry replied still slightly shaken. Hermione held him as close as she could, considering their clothing. She slipped her mitten off and so did Harry and then held hands. It helped to sooth the shaken boy.

"What does everyone say to ice cream to cheer us up a bit?" Mini asked hoping to change the mood.

It was Harry who surprisingly responded, "Ice cream sounds like a great idea Aunt Mini." He said cheerfully, and instantly the mood of the group changed.

Even though it was late December, the ice cream parlor was quite busy. "Where to from here?" asked Emma.

"How much time do we have left?" Hermione asked.

"We still have several hours left. I imagine you want to visit the book store." Mini smiled at the girl, Hermione's cheeks had a nice shade of pink. Whether it was from the weather or embarrassment, no one was sure, but weren't going to ask.

After three hours in the bookstore, Harry and Hermione had an impressive collection of books to add to their library. Mini promised to put notice me not charms on them to hide them from non-magicals that frequented their home.

"I wouldn't take them to school unless you buy a secure library trunk. Most of those are more advanced then a first year should have."

"Then why did you let them buy them?" asked a concerned Emma.

"Harry and Hermione are more mature and responsible than most children their age. If I felt that they couldn't handle those books responsibly, I wouldn't have let them by them."

Dan and Emma were satisfied with her answer. They did trust her, after all.

Everything was fine until two weeks after the holidays were over and Hermione had her first sleep over. Harry didn't mind the girls being there, until they got ready for bed. He didn't mind their pajamas, it was the short nightshirts and nighties the bothered him. As much as he liked the girls in their little study group, he was seeing a lot more than he bargained for and hid in his room most of the night. Then there was the giggling. How could girls giggle so much? Harry made up his mind after the second sleepover that he would find somewhere else to be for the next one. The third sleepover at their house came at the end of February. He and the boys in the group decided they would have sleepovers at Mike's house. It was the first time Harry and Hermione had been separated by more than a hundred feet. Harry felt the loss almost immediately. It was about midnight, when he had the first nightmare. He hadn't had one since he started to live with the Grangers. Mrs. Newman tried to comfort Harry, but it wasn't the same. She called the Grangers after the second nightmare a half hour later.

"I'm sorry to call you so late, but Harry is just inconsolable." She explained.

"That's quite all right; the well being of the children comes first. I'll be right over." Hermione was uneasy and woke up before the phone rang.

"Is Harry alright?" she asked.

"Just a nightmare. I'm sure he'll be fine once I get him home." Dan tried to assure her.

"I'll wait for you," she said. Dan looked at his daughter and knew there was no changing her mind.

"I'll be back soon."

"Are you sure, Hermione?" her mother asked.

"He's going to need me. We will need to sleep together if he is to get anymore sleep tonight." Emma knew the look and the sound of her voice. She didn't understand the connection those two had, but there was no denying that they knew what the other needed. Tonight was further proof of that.

Dan carried Harry in thirty minutes later. He started to squirm as soon as they were in the door. "Let him go Dan, Hermione's waiting for him."

Dan released Harry and he made a beeline straight to Hermione. "Let's get you back to bed Harry and you can tell me all about it." She said in a soothing voice as she led him up the stairs to his room.

"Did he say anything, Dan?"

"Not a word, just hugged me tight until we came in the house. What about Hermione?"

"Harry's going to need her and they'll have to sleep together if he is to get any more sleep tonight. You know as much about their connection as I do, but I never seen it this strong."

"First time apart by more than a few walls. I wonder if that had anything to do with his nightmare?" They talked as they made their way back to their own beds. "We need to ask Mini."

Unfortunately, Mini had no idea either as she still couldn't detect a magical bond between them. "All we can do at this point is observe and pray."

The girls from the sleep over were shocked to find her in his bed the next morning until the nightmare was explained.

"Poor Harry, just can't get a break huh?" Jasmine commented. She had tried to joke about it once and only once. The look they gave her sent goose bumps up her spine and she knew she had crossed the line. She apologized immediately, hoping not to have damaged their friendship. The ten of them had become quite close since the holidays.

It had been almost a week since the nightmare. It hadn't returned now that he was close to his Hermione. They were in her room. He felt that it was time he talked about his nightmare. They sat on her bed, holding hands.

"It was horrible Hermione, a woman was screaming my name, pleading that this man kill her instead of me and then the room was flooded with green light and a horrifying laugh. I didn't hear her anymore after that. Then this ugly face appeared above me and I think he pointed a wand at me. The tip glowed green for a bit. That's all I remember, but it kept repeating over and over again."

"Harry,' Hermione asked hesitantly, 'do you think, you know, that it might be'…she bit her lip, 'that it might be the night your parents…died?" she asked, afraid to actually hear the answer.

Harry was horrified, to think that he had just remembered the night his parents died. "Hermione,' he said as he clung to her, 'I don't want to remember. That horrible face, the face of my parents' killer. The face of the man that wanted me dead too." He broke down and cried. He cried in horror and fear. He had been afraid before, but this was soul wrenching, bone chilling fear like he had never felt before. It was so strong that Hermione felt it too.

"Harry its over, he's dead, and you're alive. You heard Aunt Mini. He's gone; he hasn't been seen or heard form since that night."

"That doesn't mean he's dead, not without a body." He said, horrified of the truth.

"Then what about his followers, they disappeared too and haven't done anything to draw attention to them selves since that night."

"Waiting his return." He said somberly. "What are we going to do?" he pleaded.

"We talk to Aunt Mini. Then we train, we prepare with the understanding that he might return. We have faith in each other that you will win again if he does return somehow."

It was a horrible thing for an eleven year old girl and a ten, going on eleven year old boy to have to contemplate, but then had anything ever been normal about Harry Potter? If anything could be said about Harry Potter, he was a survivor. He survived the Killing curse. He had survived the Dursleys and he would survive this, some how.

"I think we need to speak to the Goblins too. They have been more than supportive to us. They should know what we think. Maybe they know something that will help us." Harry said after thinking for a while. "And Madam Longbottom. The other heads of house should be aware of what we think. If they are our allies, I don't think we should hold back the information. They will need time to prepare too."

"Harry, do you realize that you may have to meet with them before they will believe you."

Harry thought about that. Would it be wise for him to come out in the open or should they have a private meeting. "More things to discuss with our parents, Mini and Madam Longbottom. How did our lives become so complicated?"

"You're Harry Potter, you don't do normal," she jested.

Harry looked up. Rolled his eyes and asked, "Why me?" When he looked down, he smiled at Hermione.

"Who else?" she asked smiling back at him and held him close.

"Madam Longbottom, I think that the time has come for these lessons to come to an end and new discussions to begin." declared Harry the next day at their regular meeting. Dan and Emma were there as usual, learning about wizard society, and Harry and Hermione's role in it.

"Why do you think that, Harry? You still have much to learn."

You could see Harry steel himself for what was to come, "I think we need to discuss what happened the night my parents died."

Of all the things he could have wanted to discuss, this was the last thing anyone would have expected.

"No one knows what happened that night." Augusta said firmly.

Harry let out a long sigh. "I do or at least I think I do."

"How Harry?" Emma asked concern lacing her voice.

"Remember the nightmare I had at Mike's. I believe that it was of that night." He choked out. Hermione was at his side holding him to her as he spoke. She knew this was going to be hard and he would have to talk about it, and probably have to repeat it several times, and she would be right there at his side every time. He knew he had to be strong and Hermione would support him, keep him from falling.

"How can you be sure Harry? You were just a baby." Augusta asked.

"I don't know. It just seemed so real and when he pointed his wand at my face, I could see the hate in his eyes."

"Can you describe the man you saw?" Augusta asked hesitantly. She really hoped he couldn't.

"He had very pale, almost transparent skin,' Augusta stiffened, 'red serpentine eyes,' she stiffened more, 'and slits for a nose, almost like he was trying to change into a snake." Augusta fainted and slumped into the couch she sat on. "I think that proves it was him I saw."

It was a long time before she regained consciousness. "I take it you know the man I described?" asked Harry.

"Yes Harry, we still fear to speak his name. It was his followers that put my son and daughter-in-law in the long-term care ward at St. Mungo's a week after you family was attacked. I understand you are friendly with the Goblins."

"Yes we planned to tell them what we were going to discuss with you and Minerva." Hermione replied.

"Then I think we should arrange a meeting as soon as possible. No need of you having to go over it any more than you have to Harry. I can see how hard it is on you."

"Thank you Madam Longbottom, will you inform the Heads of House what we uncovered. I don't want this sprung on them last minute and expect them to be prepared to do anything over night."

"Yes, Milord, I will keep them up to date as things become known."

"Milord? Madam Longbottom."

"Things have changed since you declared, basically, we are to prepare for war. Even though you are the youngest, your house has always been in the lead, Milord."

"I'm too young." He said a bewildered look on his face.

"You'll be emancipated in little over four months. You have already issued your first order, Milord."

"When?" Puzzlement all over his face.

"When you said to stop the lessons and start other discussions. Then you instructed me to inform the other houses what you suspect. If you are to have the respect of the other heads, you must stand firm on your decisions, Milord."

Harry looked at Hermione, remembering the conversation from last night, "When will I have to meet them?" resignation in his voice.

"Soon, Milord."

"Can we go back to Harry or at least Mr. Potter? Milord sounds so … formal."

"It is formal and you might as well get used to it as that is the proper way to address you, Milord."

"Not until July 31st. Until then I'm Harry, just Harry." he slumped back in his chair. "Do I address you as Lady Longbottom?"

"No Harry, that mantel was passed to my daughter-in-law and will pass to whomever Neville marries. Once passed on, it never comes back. I am the Regent of House Longbottom. A care taker, if you will, until Neville comes of age."

"Will it have to be a public meeting or can we keep it quite for now? I don't want to tip our hand until I go to school as we originally planned. Too many people already know who I am."

"A gathering of Houses is bound to be noticed." She said.

"Are there any up-coming functions that they would attend that are not attended by the general populace or the Ministry?" Hermione asked. "A birthday or something similar that we might be able to use as a cover."

"I would have to check our social calendar. You could easily fit in Slytherin house at Hogwarts if you were a pure-blood."

"Would it be possible to set up a meeting with the Goblins for tomorrow? I don't want to have to miss school for this as it may raise questions." Harry asked.

"I'll see what I can do. Give me an hour to set things up. I'll have them contact Minerva."

"Harry, what is going on? You just dropped a bombshell and we have no idea what is happening." Dan asked perplexed.

"We don't know for sure our selves. Based on the nightmare I had, what we suspect, is that the man that murdered my parents and tried to kill me, is still around. No body was found that night as far as I know and until I know for sure that he is dead, I'm going to assume he is still out there somewhere. I will not assume he is dead. You heard Minerva when she brought me here. He was a very powerful and evil wizard. When he wants someone dead, they don't normally survive. We have to assume that until it is proven that he is dead; he will come after me again. If I am living here, that puts you in danger too. I will not take that chance. We will do whatever is necessary to protect you."

"What do you mean, Harry? You're not planning on leaving, to protect us, are you?" pleaded Emma.

"No. Not until or unless it is the only way. We, meaning Hermione and I, don't know enough about magic yet.' He stopped to think. "I plan to learn as much about magic and what we can do with it, as fast as we can. I want to find out how we can protect you, without you or us, having to leave. He had followers and I think that eventually, they will find out about my connection to you and Hermione. That, is what I believe will put you in danger. My leaving your house will not stop that danger. Sawtooth said it about Dumbledore, he will use you against me, but everyone that has a grudge against me will try to hurt me through you. When I become Head of House Potter, I can invoke house protection on House Granger. You attended the lessons with Madam Longbottom so you know what that entails. Do you have any objections?"

Dan and Emma sat looking at each other, having a silent conversation that some married couples achieve after a lifetime together. "No, Harry. We understand what is involved and will accept House Potter protection."

Harry and Hermione visibly relaxed. "I don't want to invoke that until we know more, but it's nice to know that you will accept before hand."

"How about some lunch. I'm starved," said Harry.

They had just finished lunch, when Augusta arrived. "Have you had lunch yet, Madam Longbottom?" Harry asked before she had a chance to say anything.

"Yes, Harry. I had lunch with Ragnok. Thank you for asking."

"I can't have an important Lady such as yourself going hungry on my account, now can I." He said with a cheeky smile.

Augusta did something she hadn't done in years, she giggled. "What are we going to do with you? Making an old lady giggle."

"It wasn't my intention, but hey. If it makes you feel good, that's a plus in my book." He smiled at her.

"If we are quite done making me feel better, I have good news. The Goblins will meet with you tomorrow at the bank. I have a portkey to take us there at ten in the morning. They said they would make sure Mini is there at the appointed time. They are very interested to hear what you have to say. They didn't seem totally surprised by your analysis." She sat and sipped the tea that had been set in front of her.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and nodded. His assessment was right. They did know something.

"What? We know that look Harry," said Emma.

"When Hermione and I were discussing the nightmare and what it might mean and who we should tell, I mentioned the Goblins and thought that they might know something that might help us. What Augusta just said sort of confirms that."

"Are we on a first name basis, Harry?"

"Ooops.' His hand covered his mouth, 'I wasn't thinking when I said that."

"I'll let it pass this time, Harry, but unless given permission, don't do it again; especially around the other heads."

"Yes Ma'am. I stand corrected."

"I would like to clear up a point of house protection, more for myself than anything. If I give house protection to the Grangers, would that make Hermione my ward?"

"Yes, Harry it would."

"And all that means is that I am financially responsible for her?"

"It's a little more than that. You would be responsible for her education, marriage proposals, and the like. In other words you would in affect be her parent. You could over rule Dan as far as she is concerned."

"Damn!"

"Harry, language," scolded Hermione.

"Sorry. I don't want that sort of authority over Hermione. I'm not sure I could be fair when it comes to that sort of thing."

"What part?" asked Dan.

"Saying who she can or can't marry. I don't know if anybody would ever be good enough for her."

Dan burst out laughing. He laughed so hard his ribs hurt.

"What is so funny, Dad?" Harry asked.

"You,' he said trying to get his laughter under control, 'I thought,' guffaw 'I was the' he-he 'only one' ha-ha ' that felt that' snicker 'way about my daughter. And you're only ten." Dan lost control again and rolled in the floor.

"Ha-ha." Harry blushed a deep red. He new he had feelings for Hermione; he just didn't know what to make of them.

"Daniel Granger! Control yourself. You're embarrassing the poor boy." She was blushing slightly about Harry's admission. She knew they were still too young to court, but the signs were there for anybody that looked.

"Hermione, will you walk with me? I need to get outside away from laughing boy so I can think."

This comment sent Emma and Mrs. Longbottom into giggles. Harry rolled his eyes as he led Hermione out the back door.

"Do you have any idea what's going on in there?" he asked once they were outside.

"I think that dad thought it funny that 'you'," she jabbed him in the chest to emphasize her point, "felt the same way he, and every other father feels about their daughter. As for the other two, laughter is contagious and your comment was funny." She smiled and lit up the backyard.

They walked in silence for a while. "What are you thinking, Harry?"

"I've had to make a lot of decisions today. I just hope I made the right ones. I'm out of my league here." He said, worry clearly etched on his face. For a moment, he looked years older than he should.

"As far as I can tell, Harry, you haven't made any life shattering decisions yet. Everything you have done so far is logical given what information we have to work with. Don't you think that it is better to be prepared for the worst, than not be prepared at all?"

He stopped dead in his tracks, making Hermione stop and face him as he was still holding her hand. He stepped forward, slipping one hand around her waist and the other, for the first time, went behind her neck. He drew her to him and held her head to the side of his, cheek to cheek. "What would I do with out you Mione?" he whispered.

"Survive, Harry, survive. You are a survivor, Harry."

He leaned back a bit to look her in the eyes. "I want to do more than survive, Hermione. I want to live. All my life, I dreamed of someone rescuing me from my relatives. I didn't believe it would ever happen. Enter Minerva McGonagall, savior. Now, I have you, I have a family I think of as my own. Dream fulfilled, right? Wrong. My past seems to not want me to be happy, to end that. There is so much I want to do. So much I want to share with you. I may be only ten, Mione, but I have feelings for you that I can't explain because they are alien to me. One thing I do know is that they make me feel good."

"I should shut up now." Cheeks bright red in embaressment.

Hermione just stood there, looking into his emerald green eyes, watching the emotions flitter back and forth in his eyes. Love, worry, fear, hope, all of them took there turn revealing what Harry felt from one second to the next. He had let his hand slip from her neck to the small of her back. She had her hands around his neck. She held him for all she was worth.

**A/N: Goblin and Alliances**. Sorry it took so long, had to do major rewrite here or ruin the plot I had in mind.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Don't own Harry and friends from canon just this little plot. Harry is thrown into the adult world.

Chapter 14: Goblins and alliances

At ten o'clock on Sunday morning found Harry, his family, Minerva and Madam Longbottom in Ragnook's office. He hoped that they had information that he needed. Fortunately the lessons from Madam Longbottom included goblin culture.

"Greeting Director Ragnook, I hope this day finds your vaults full and your enemies dead on the battle field." Harry intoned as he bowed to the leader of the goblins.

"Greeting Mister Potter, may you also find your vaults full and your enemies dead. What can we do for you today?"

"We are in hopes that you may have some information that will see a common enemy defeated."

"And who is this enemy?"

"I do not know his name. Those that advise me fear to speak his name, but he is the one that killed my family."

"He is known as Lord Voldemort. Who he really is, we do not know. He claims to be the heir of Salazar Slytherin and it must be true as the vaults to Slytherin have changed and that only happens when the last of a line dies. However since it was you that defeated him, it is possible that you have inherited that vault. Mr. Potter, did you look at the family tree closely?"

"It's Harry, just Harry. And no, not really. Once Aunt Mini started talking about my grandparents, I didn't look at it again."

Ragnook retrieved the parchment and unrolled it in front of Harry. It appeared much longer than he remembered.

"Say nothing until you have looked at all of it," Ragnook cautioned.

After ten minutes of silence, Harry looked at Minerva and Madam Longbottom who both had looks of awe and trepidation on their faces.

"What? Why do you look like that? Is this bad news?" Harry asked.

"Harry, in our lessons, we have gone over customs and laws and houses but not lineage. The further back you can trace your heritage in the magical world, the more prestige you are awarded. Especially if you have money as well. Harry, you have probably the oldest line there is. It goes beyond the founders of Hogwarts, who are considered the epitome of the wizardry world. The fact that you are connected to three of them, whether directly or indirectly is of great importance and will help you immensely. It will also put a larger target on you back."

"I don't understand." He said in puzzlement.

"Harry, you can lay claim to the oldest known bloodlines in the magical world, and with them comes the largest voting block in the Wizengamot. With that comes the ability to change the world and many will seek you out to vote the way they want. To vote in laws that will favor them and their agenda; whether it is for good or bad."

Harry thought about that for a moment. "Okay, who is Ignotus Peverell? And why is he so important? What does that mean to me?"

"Ignutous Peverell was the youngest of the three Peverell bothers, the three most powerful wizards of any age yet known. You're a descendant of the Peverell family and a direct descendant of Ignutous Peverell. Well the story is a bit trumped up because they use it as a fairy tale now, but the three brothers had dangerously powerful magic. They created magical spells and devices that still more than rival anything created today. Antioch Peverell the oldest brother was a dueling master was said to have created the most powerful wand ever. It could never be destroyed in a fight and was loyal to only those who won it in battle. Camdus the second bother was obsessed with the beyond, working on potions and runes to create channels to and from the afterlife. He is said to have created a stone that could bring a person's spirit back from the other side, but the spirit could not inhabit a body anymore and therefore could not be sustained in this world. And your bloodline starts with Ignutous who was a master of disillusion. He created many charms and spells and things to defy the senses. He is said to have created a masterpiece, a cloak that would render the user of it completely invisible and unable to be harmed with any spell while within it. It is said that anyone who can bring all three together; the wand, the stone and the cloak would be the most powerful wizard ever. But many people dispel that talk because these things have never been identified to the public. Anyway, Ignutous had a son named Trevor who had a daughter named Nicole who then married a man by the name of Godric Gryffindor. Their son married Rowena's second daughter. Camdus had a great granddaughter that married into the Slytherin line. Antioch as far as we know died without issue." explained Augusta.

"What happens if I can't or don't want to claim these titles?"

"They will pass to your children or grandchildren until they are claimed or your line dies out."

"So…if I die before I have any children then these lines die out?" he asked hesitantly.

"Most likely, yes." Augusta replied.

"When would I have to claim them? Do I have to claim them now? And if I do claim them, how will the names pass on?"

Ragnook watched with amazement as the young man seemed hesitant to claim the power the titles would give him. He knew for a fact if had been any other they would have jumped at the chance regardless of the consequences.

"You should claim the Potter head of house when you turn eleven. The others can wait until your seventeen as you would have to appoint a proxy to vote in your stead until then anyway." Augusta recommended.

Harry thought for a minute. "If I only had one child, a son, would he have to carry all these titles? Is there any way to spread them out?"

"There are two ways you could spread out the titles. The first is to have five sons, then they could each take up one of the titles."

"I could never ask one woman to do that." Augusta smiled.

"The second way is to marry a woman for each line and the first born son of each would inherit the title."

"Where would a guy find that many women that he could love and get along with each other? I wouldn't want to be in a position where I had to choose one over another."

"You have plenty of time to figure it out. Most boys would love to have a harem."

"No! No harems." He looked at Hermione with trepidation. "I only need one woman in my life." Then looking sheepishly at the three older women present. "Err, Ah correct that only one wife."

"Good save Harry." Chuckled Dan.

Deep in thought he asked. "How will this affect the allied Houses either way?"

Augusta had to stop and think. She was amazed at how mature his questions were. She had to remind herself at times like these that he was only ten and a half years old. "To be honest, I'm not sure. The only one that might be a problem would be the Slytherin title."

"Why? What's wrong with Slytherin? Wasn't he a founder too?"

"Slytherin was considered to be a dark wizard."

"Only considered, not proven? I don't want to go on hearsay. I want facts. Find someone to research his line. If I or one of my descendants has to carry his title, I want to know it's a proud heritage or it will never come to light. One thing I learned this year in the muggle world, never take one book to have all the facts. Isn't that why you have been teaching about the houses and customs, so I know what I'm doing?"

"Director Ragnook, I know the goblins treat the confidentiality of their clients with a code of honor, but this information must not leave this room until we agree to go public with it. Can I count on you?"

"Of course, a breech of trust of this magnitude would have the Goblin Nation in your debt for all eternity."

"What other information do you have that will help us?"

"When your parents will was read, Sawtooth was instructed to retrieve a box from your parents vault. In it were signed sealed papers revealing who the secret keeper was and who set up the wards around the cottage in Godric's Hallow. Albus Dumbledore set up the wards and what was interesting, after we examined the cottage, was the alarm ward he set. It was keyed to only one person's magic, that of Lord Voldemort. The secret keeper was Peter Pettigrew. According to the documents, they had Mr. Black as they trusted him completely. Dumbledore convinced them to switch to Pettigrew in late October. They were attacked and killed a week later."

Ragnook waited while the absorbed that much. "He has also on numerous occasions tried to take control of the Potter estates with documents he claims were signed by Lord Potter."

"Why?" Harry asked bewildered.

"At the moment you are the second richest wizard in Brittan, but with Mr. Black in prison there is no one to direct his account and is stagnant while yours is active and moving forward. Dumbledore has also put forth a marriage contract. That should have tipped us that you were still alive, but its wording was such that it didn't matter if you were alive or not. The girl would still inherit at the age of seventeen."

"Who was the contract with?" Minerva inquired.

It took Ragnook a moment to find the proper parchment. "One Ginevra Molly Weasley."

"Arthur and Molly's girl, are you sure?"

He handed her a parchment. "I can't believe this. If this was to come to pass and Harry was bound to this, he would be subservient to Dumbledore in the end."

"Explain to us dummies."

"The way in which this is written, House Potter would become a vassal to House Weasley. Everyone knows House Weasley is a vassal to Dumbledore. In other words what ever he tells Arthur to do he must obey. And you would have to obey Arthur."

"Well that just sucks."

"Harry! Language."

"Sorry. What can we do about this?"

"I'm going to guess here,' said Augusta, 'that with where he placed you, you wouldn't know about your heritage and would fall prey to this. Now since you do know and will take of the Head of House status in a few months you can dissolve any and all contracts that you have not approved or were not legally signed by your father."

"Well that is a relief. Are there any other contracts out there Ragnook?"

"Not that the goblins are aware of. If any are brought forth after your claim as Head of House becomes public, we will of course notify you."

"Is there anything else?" He really hoped there wasn't. They had quite a bit to deal with already.

"Not at this time."

All eyes were on the young man that was the center of this meeting. Some wondered how he managed to not fold under it all. Harry was using the skills he was taught during his Occlumency training to organize this new information. Eventually he said, "Sorry trying to organize it all. Now back to the original reason for this meeting. A few weeks ago I had a nightmare that we believe was the night my parents died.' He paused as it was hard to remember that nightmare, 'in it I heard a female voice that I believe was my mother's begging someone to kill her instead of me. The room was suddenly filled with green light and I heard her no more." He paused again. "Then I saw a face lean over the rail of my cot. I described it to Madam Longbottom and she confirmed it was the face of Voldemort did you say his name was?"

"Yes Harry. Go on."

"Before he cast his curse, he said 'Good-bye child of prophesy.' Then he said what sounded like abra ca dabra. And I was hit with a green spell. That's all I remember." Hermione was the only one that didn't look at him in awe. "What?"

"Harry, the spell was Avada Kedavra. It is known as the killing curse and no one has ever survived it before. Are you sure that's what he said."

"As sure as one can be. I wish there was some way you could see it and then you would know for sure."

Minerva looked at Ragnook. "Do you have a pensive?"

Ragnook went a cabinet behind his desk and retrieved a large flat bowl like device and placed it on the table.

Minerva drew her wand. "Now Harry I know this will be hard, but I want you to concentrate on the memory of the dream. When you have it in the front of your mind, I will place my wand to your temple and extract a copy of the memory."

A tear leaked from his eye as he pulled the memory forward. "Do you have it?" He nodded.

As Minerva pulled her wand away from Harry's temple, a long silver strand was pulled from Harry's head. She then deposited in the bowl like device. "Harry I know you are a very brave young man, but I will not ask that you join us in the pensive. It must be hard enough just to have to remember it, let alone relive it."

"That's fine. I don't want to see it anymore than I have to."

Minerva, Madam Longbottom and Ragnook entered the pensive and returned ten minutes later with looks of disgust, fear and awe cycling across their features.

"Well?' asked Harry hesitantly. "What was it?"

"It was definitely the Killing curse. Your mother must have done something to help you survive or you are more than a wizard." Minerva thought for a moment. "I don't approve of where he put you, but maybe it was a good thing he told everybody you were dead. Think about it for a moment, if it got out the Harry here survived the killing curse, what would people think. Think of the fame he would have had to deal with. The title they might have put on him. Some thing like 'The-boy-who lived' or something similar."

"While I am glad I don't have a title like that, why couldn't another story have been equally effective? Like he Mom killed him at the same time she died."

"Okay another secret to keep and though I don't know how I survived what you say I did, I would rather not try it again, especially if it was something Mom did that protected me that night."

"Is there any thing else we need to cover? I'm kind of knackered and intend to take a kip when we get home."

"No, I think that's everything and we all have a lot to think about and do."

After returning to the granger residence, true to his word, Harry went straight to his room, kicked of his shoes and was a sleep as soon as his head hit his pillow. Hermione joined as she felt the stress of the day might bring back the nightmare and wanted to be there for him if it did.

A/N: another chapter finally finished. Thank you all for your patience. Too many plot bunnies for this and I tried to get them down even if they are further down the road. One good thing about that is it will make up loaded some chapters easier, like the Dursleys arrest and day in court. The section about the Peverell brothers was borrowed from robst Fates Gambit. If you haven't read it you should.

A/N: robst corrected me. That part wasn't from his story, but future parts willbe, even if modified to fit this.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: disclaimer, characters are JKR's. The story is mine, except where borrowed from books or other authors.

Chapter 15: #4 Privet drive Investigated.

Police Sergeant John Crow had led many an investigation and had thought it odd for Magistrate Mathias to order this one. For the past several months, he and his team had questioned the neighbors and teachers here in Little Whining. The picture did not look good. The boy that his investigation centered on had been painted as a trouble maker, but no one could say exactly why. Most of it had been hearsay on their part. The only thing the neighbors had to say that they knew for certain, was that the boy was a hard worker as was evident by the gardens and lawn they watched him take care of.

When asked to compare the boys that lived at #4, many looked ashamed when describing Harry as scrawny while Dudley was overweight. It never occurred to them that Harry was being mistreated and starved.

The teachers were told he was sickly, a liar and a trouble maker, so they over looked many things and believed others over him. The headmaster, it turned out, was an old school chum of Vernon's.

Prime and proper Petunia Dursley was beside herself as she realized who had rung her doorbell. In front of her were two police officers and four people dressed in plain clothes.

"Mrs. Petunia Dursley?" Asked a tall handsome man with brown hair and eyes.

"Yes."

"We are here under court order to investigate reported child abuse."

"We would never hurt Dudley." She protested.

"Who's Dudley?" he asked curiously.

"Why my son of course. Who else would I mean?"

"This report is for one Harry Potter."

Petunia froze. Once Harry had left her home, she hoped to never hear that name again. Now the police were investigating. "W-who?"

Police Sergeant John Crow had led many of these investigations and had seen her freeze. "Harry Potter, your nephew."

"I-I don't know who your talking about." She tried un-convencely.

About that time, Dudley came out of the kitchen stuffing his face with chocolate cake. "Are they asking about the freak, Mum?"

"Dudley, go back to the kitchen and hush." But it was too late, it was enough to confirm that they needed a closer like inside.

Alice Jenkins had been a social worker for twelve years, she was there specifically because the court order had mentioned the boy was being abused by his uncle therefore there was more chance he would talk to a friendly female face. She wasn't just there because she was female though as Alice just happened to be bloody good at her job. She followed Dudley to the kitchen along with David Thompson. She sat and began a conversation with the still eating human waste disposal unit, "Hello son, what's your name?"

The word 'Dudley' emerged between layers of the chocolate cake he was currently trying to swallow.

"Hello Dudley, my name is Alice. Why did you call Harry a freak?"

"That's what dad always called him."

"Do you like him?"

"Harry?" he asked in disbelief. "No. I liked it when I could beat him up but he was getting hard to catch when he wasn't at home."

"What do you mean?"

"Well for a little freak, he was really fast." Looking at Dudley it wasn't a surprise if Harry could out run him.

"Why was it easier at home?"

"Dad would hold him for me and he knew if he ran Dad would really lay into him when he came home."

"How did you beat him up?"

"With me fist mostly, but if he fell down I'd kick him. Last Easter Dad got me a cricket bat and held him while I tried it out." David was writing every word that came out of Dudley's mouth.

"Did your dad or mum ever hit Harry?"

"Loads of times. When Dad would come home angry about something, he would take it out on Harry. If he didn't do his chores properly, Mum would hit him or just tell Dad when he got home. Then he would throw him in his cupboard for a few days."

"What cupboard Dudley?" He pointed his chocolate covered fist at the cupboard under the stairs just outside the kitchen. It was odd that it had a padlock on it.

"What else would your Dad do to Harry?"

"What do you mean?" after a moments thought.

"You said that he would lay into him. What did he do?"

"Well it would depend on how mad he was or how mad he was at the freak. If he was really mad he would get out his freak belt. It had these nice shiny studs on it you see. Really wicked." He said with delight.

"Did he ever go to the doctor for treatment?"

"Nah, Dad wouldn't waste the money on a freak."

"Were his injuries ever treated?"

"No. I remember one time when I was using my cricket bat hearing his arm break. Dad threw him in his cupboard. After a while Dad got tired of hearing him crying and beat him 'til he shut up."

"One last question Dudley, were you told not to speak about how he was treated?"

"Yeah, I never speak of it outside of the house."

"Thank you Dudley, that will be all for now.

Sergeant Crow had been listening to the conversation in the kitchen then frog marched Petunia in front of the cupboard. "Open it." He ordered.

Petunia reached up a got the key off the hook and unlocked the padlock and stepped back. She looked away as they opened the door. She hadn't been able to bring herself to clean the little room after her nephew left.

John took one look and closed the door. "We need a forensic team in here. No body touches anything. This is an official crime scene. If I didn't know the boy was a live, I would be looking for a body."

"Mrs. Dursley, you are under arrest for child abuse." He declared as her placed her hands behind her and cuffed her. As she was led out in cuffs, she noticed all of her neighbors were out side watching. She hung her head in shame. Dudley was led out and placed in another vehicle. In the days that followed evidence was collected confirming the abuse of one Harry Potter. Sworn statements were given by neighbors.

Two hours later across town.

Vernon watched his secretary through the glass partition and knew she was almost his. He'd been wearing her down for months now. He could sense it would soon be time for a weekend 'seminar' that she would have to accompany him on. This would cause her great problems as, even with taking overtime rates into account; the single mother would earn less than her child minder. A weekend away would cause serious financial hardships.

That would be time to introduce the 'Vernon Dursley' compensation scheme and then she'd be hooked. He would then play with her for a while before throwing her back. Vernon was a great believer in the 'catch and release' policy, there was always plenty more fish in the sea for him to trawl a lure at.

It was the chase and then bending that person to your will that excited Vernon, once he'd accomplished that goal he soon got fed up with his conquest. He had almost broken freak was as well before he left. He'd written it up in his journal and planned to make sure the boy was seen working in the front garden and washing the car before his next beating. Vernon didn't want to arouse any suspicions now he was so close. The freak's mother thought she was really something and wouldn't give Vernon the time of day, now he was regularly beating the snot out of her only kid. Who said there was no justice in the world?

He had hoped that when the rest of the freaks came back for the boy he wouldn't be able to take a piss without Vernon Dursley's permission, far less perform magic. He'd show the bastards just who they were dealing with, dropping a kid off on his doorstep in the middle of the night. Now they were just dreams since that older freak had come and took Harry away.

He was studying his calendar to fit it all into his busy summer when his secretary knocked and entered. "There are some gentlemen here to see you sir!" The sarcasm was actually dripping off her use of the word 'sir'. Vernon's mind was working on ways to repay her for that when he noticed who the gentlemen were.

The first two 'gentlemen' flashed Vernon their credentials as CID officers (UK Police - Criminal Investigation Department) while the other two were uniformed policemen who looked ready for anything.

"How can I help you gentlemen?" Vernon asked in his most official voice.

"Well you could start by telling us what you did to the kid?"

Vernon hadn't caught the CID officers name but it didn't make any difference, he was rendered speechless anyway.

"Nothing to say? Ok Vernon Dursley you are under arrest for the suspected abuse of the child in your care, namely one Harry James Potter. You do not have to say anything at this time but anything you do say will be noted and may be given in evidence. Do you understand these rights sir?"

Vernon could only nod, "Let the records show that the accused nodded his understanding. Sergeant, the cuffs please."

The two uniformed officers were on Vernon before he could think, never mind move and his arms were handcuffed painfully behind his back before being escorted out the building with the entire staff rubbernecking. The CID officer informed Vernon's secretary that the office was now a potential crime scene with no one being allowed inside until forensics said they were finished and posted a uniformed officer at the door.

Vernon's knees almost gave way as he remembered his journal was locked in a special drawer built-in to his desk. This book documented all his beatings of the little shit, as well as his secretarial conquests and the methods he used. He didn't think it would take the forensic team more than two minutes to find it. That would be about as long as his defense would last if he spouted that the brat was magical, Vernon Dursley was well and truly screwed.

Later that day.

Jimmy Simpson couldn't see how things could get any worse, the Dursleys lawyer was in Chief Inspector Duncan Roberts office and the burley Welshman always called it as he saw it.

"Jimmy this piece of shit is going down for at least twenty. The sick bastard actually kept a journal of all the punishments he inflicted on the boy. The wife will also still be behind bars when we hit the new millennium and I'll have the bastard's sister as well for setting a bulldog on the lad for amusement. This is one sick family and we have it all documented for us."

Both men knew each other well enough to speak their minds freely in the confines of this office, knowing it wouldn't go any further. "What's the forensic looking like?"

"Cast iron Jimmy, there's loads of it and all authenticated in the bastards own hand writing. We've a belt with ingrained blood that must have cut the poor kid's back open and the day, date, time and description of every time it was done. I've never known a child to get to nine-year-old and not have his photograph taken. The walls were plastered with pictures of the other boy but we can't source one image of Harry. We're going through the school records but even there he always seemed to be missing when class photos were taken, the media and press are going to be all over this."

Jimmy knew he wasn't going to win this one, shit he didn't want to win this one. He was in total agreement with Duncan; the Dursleys were one sick family. His only bargaining chip was to offer both of them pleading guilty to the rest and testifying against the sister.

Duncan handed him an artist's drawing of a kid who looked like something out of a Dickensian workhouse, only the version without the singing and dancing. He looked dirty, underfed and the glasses held together with tape seemed too big for his face. Even this drawing screamed abuse to the lawyer so how was it possible for Harry to slip through the system designed specifically to prevent these occurrences?

The policeman was getting more and more wound up. "This is all we could come up with for Harry Potter, the boy wasn't registered with a doctor, dentist, health worker – nothing. He apparently just appeared on their doorstep as a baby with a note telling them his parents were dead and he was their responsibility. Story around the neighborhood and school is that the boy's a troublemaker, bullshit!"

Duncan grabbed the drawing out of Jimmy's hand, "This is a boy who was crying out for help and we all failed him. I promise you this though Jimmy, the bastards that did this to him are going down, they're going down hard!"

Jimmy wisely decided not to mention any deals, when that image hit the media nothing was going to save the Dursleys. He thanked his friend and left to tell his clients the good news.

Dudley's new life.

Dudley didn't wake the next morning for the simple reason the boy was too scared to go to sleep. Dudley been brought into this place last night and immediately threw a tantrum because he didn't want to be here. The staff just totally ignored him but two older boys approached, Dudley was told to shut the hell up or they would kick his fat arse up and down the dorm.

At first he didn't believe them but a punch to his gut sharply changed his mind, he then started crying but a kick in the butt cured that as well. He lay in his bed too frightened to even move to the toilet, resulting in another few slaps for stinking the place out.

A member of staff eventually approached him and escorted the shaking boy to the bathroom. Unfortunately, they didn't exactly stock clothes in Dudley's size. All they could come up with was a pair of white turning grey y-fronts, an old set of painters' dungarees and a massive sweat shirt. Dudley had to roll the legs and sleeves up until his home at Privet Drive was no longer a crime scene and they could fetch some of his own clothes.

Breakfast was over by the time he made it down to the canteen area. The famished boy was handed a piece of toast, which he ate while trying to ignore the sniggering and sniping about his clothes and rather large size. Dudley didn't think he could last too long in this place.

Dudley's life was also taking on an element of routine, as soon as the orphanage staff's backs were turned he found himself once again the victim of kicks and punches. One of the older boys had overheard the staff talking about why Dudley was here and had alerted everyone to why he was in here. As the son of child abusers, who was not himself ever hit, the rest of the kids had had taken it as their mission in life to show the bawling blimp just what he'd been missing.

Dudley couldn't believe that people would actually beat him up because of who his parents were, that just wasn't fair.

Harry was un-aware of the goings on at #4. His life had enough going on to worry about the Dursleys and as he had told the magistrate, 'If I never see them again, Ill' be happy.' He was with a family that loved him. He had the closest thing he ever had to a sister and friends. Who would have ever thought he would have friends? He never would have as long as Dudley was around.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Disclaimer, characters are JKR's. The story is mine except for parts I borrowed.

Chapter 16: Spring break

Harry, Hermione and four of the eight kids that were in their study group; got together for a day at the beach. The six of them were enjoying the surf. John Sullivan had been trying all year to get Harry in trouble. He had tried all year to get Harry into another fight or find a way to split up him and his friends without success. John and his friends had entered the water several yards down the beach trying not to be noticed as they made their way to where Harry and his friends were enjoying themselves. Harry and his friends were in waist deep water, when suddenly, John popped up out of the water with two of his friends. They dunked Harry and while they held him under water, they pulled off the ever present black t-shirt, exposing his back.

Gasping for air, Harry jumped up out of the water not realizing his shirt was gone and his back was exposed to his friends and enemies alike. Hermione hesitated a moment, just long enough that everybody saw his back, then she quickly moved behind Harry hugging him to her, covering his back with her body.

"Jasmine!"…."Jasmine!" Hermione screamed trying to get her attention. "JASMINE."

Jasmine shook her head to clear the image of what she saw.

"Jasmine, go and get a beach towel and bring it to me. The rest of you go wait for us on the beach. Go. Move." Hermione ordered, taking charge of the situation.

While Hermione was taking charge, Harry realized what had happened and started to withdraw in to himself. It had finally happened. His worst fear. Now they had seen his freakish body. Now they all knew he was a freak. A freak that no one would want to be friends with. He was back to his one true friend, Hermione. She could feel his distress, seemed to hear his thoughts and knew what he would do.

Even though it was the first time she had actually seen his back, she had an idea what to expect, it was still a shock to see it. That was why she hesitated for those brief seconds. She also knew how Harry would react to their friends seeing him this way. She knew he was going to withdraw into his own little world and shut them out. She hated that this happened after all the hard work they had put in to getting the study group together, becoming friends. But, this is how he protected himself, and punished himself.

The change in Harry was immediate. He sat away from the rest of the group. He refused to rejoin their friends on the beach. The rest of the group was in shock from what they had seen. They knew he had a hard life before they had met him, but none realized just how bad it had been as Harry refused to talk about it. He had worked hard to get to know them and let them know him. None of them had ever expected what they had seen. He mistook their shock for revulsion and was determined never to be hurt like this again. For the first time in his life, he had friends. People his own age he could talk to about anything. He got to know them, their hobbies, favorite movies, books, even their favorite colors. Now that was all gone, lost in an afternoon; because they had finally seen him for the freak that he was. He knew it was too good to last, but it had felt soo good while it did. Now it hurt twice as much.

Harry stayed in his room when the others came for the remainder of Easter break, only allowing Hermione and her parents to talk to him. How could he face them now that they knew?

"Harry, what are you going to do when we are back at school? You can't avoid them for ever." Hermione asked the day before their break ended.

"I guess I'll be the same as when I first started school. I'll ignore them and they can continue to ignore me."

"Harry, they aren't ignoring you. You are ignoring them. They ask about you all the time. They are concerned because you won't talk to them."

"Why Hermione? So, they can make fun of the freak, now that they know. I couldn't take it Hermione. It was bad enough when they didn't know. Now, now, I just want to be left alone. You have stood by me no matter what, so I guess its back to just the two of us, Mione." He said as they sat on his bed holding hands. Hermione could feel the anguish he felt.

During the following week, Harry quit attending their study group. He even quit participating in class, trying not to draw attention to himself. John saw what was happening and took advantage of Harry's depression, and Harry became his punching bag. Harry didn't bother to fight back or even run. If Hermione hadn't stepped in the last time, she was sure Harry was going to die from the beating he was taking. John had also gone back to bullying everyone he could.

When Harry returned to school after that beating, he was in for quite a shock. Jasmine, one of the first to become his and Hermione friends (she had also been one of Hermione's biggest tormentors) went to the front of the class.

"Miss Tomas, we need to clear something up right now before class begins," she said loud enough for all to hear.

"What would that be Miss Johnson?"

"Harry and his stubborn attitude." She turned at faced the class.

"Does anyone object?" She asked the class.

"Yeah, I do. Let the baby be and get on with the lesson," said John.

She ignored John's comments. "Anyone else?" when no one else objected Jasmine started.

"Harry, what is wrong with you? You have avoided us since that incident at the beach. Do you think so little of us that you think that that would stop us from being your friend?" she pleaded.

Harry was resolutely looking at the floor.

Jasmine walked to the back of the room to Harry, and knelt in front of him forcing him to look at her. "Harry, you worked so hard to make friends with us, when you didn't have to, why are you throwing all that away? Do you think that we are so shallow that a few scares would turn us away? Yes, they are ugly, but they don't define you, Harry. I would like to think that I am a better person than that. You have shown me things about myself that I would have missed, if you and Hermione had not shown them to me. I know that I was not the best person in the world, but you took the time to get to know the real me and in the process, I got to know Hermione for more than a bookworm. She really is sweet you know."

Others had gathered around Harry, and he lifted his head to look at them.

"Harry, we all miss you as a friend and as a study partner. You have a wicked sense of humor, mate" Mike said. The others all nodded in agreement.

"Harry, not only are you a friend to us, but a protector to the younger students. Since you withdrew, John has been taking advantage of your absence and bullying them and taking their lunch money. We tried to help, but we can't fight the way you do, and Hermione was so concerned about you, she couldn't do much either. To tell the truth, we have all been afraid you might commit suicide. When you let him beat the holy crap out of you, we thought you were going to die."

Harry looked Jasmine in the eye and could see that she meant every word and that she had been truly frightened when he was hurt. He was beside himself; he didn't know what to think. He looked at Hermione who just nodded her head signifying that all they had said was true.

"Do you truly mean it? What you saw makes no difference?"

"Do you think we would have said it here, in front of the whole class, if we didn't mean what we said? I thought you were smart, Harry." Jasmine chuckled as she said this.

Harry stood drawing Jasmine up with him. When he was standing, he hugged her and said, "Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me." He turned his head enough to see John Sullivan. "John, you're on notice, I'm back. You pick on any one and I will come looking for you."

John noticeably swallowed, fear evident in his face. He, like everyone else, knew Harry was a man of his word.

"Miss Tomas, I think we have taken up enough of you class time and I apologize for the need. Thank you." He said as he and the others sat back down to continue with their class.

When they got home that evening, Harry said, "Mom, you need to mark today on the calendar."

"Why, Harry?"

"Because today I found out I truly do have friends and it feels great." He then went on to tell Dan and Emma what had happened at school.

"I told you Harry." Hermione said smugly.

"Yes you did and as usual you were right. I don't know why I ever doubted you," he said as he kissed her cheek.

It took a day or two, but the old Harry was back.

Two weeks later Harry asked Dan if he could invite the group over for a cook out.

"I don't see why not Harry. Is there a special reason?"

"Yeah, when we first started our study group, we told each other a little about our selves. They know about my life here, but not before. I promised them that if we ever got to a certain point I would tell all. I realize that I can't really tell everything, but I can tell them some. They have proven to be friends and I always keep my promises."

"If your sure Harry, that's up to you. Go ahead and invite them over."

The eight were familiar with the Granger household; they had all been over numerous times and were more than happy with the invitation.

"Back when all of you asked Hermione to form a study group, we gave a brief history of our selves. I didn't say much because my life before the Grangers was not one worth remembering. But I did tell you that one day, if we became friends I would tell you. You have proved yourselves to be real friends, so now it's time. My story is not a pretty one." He went on to tell about how his parents died using the word terrorist instead of wizards. Then he described his life at the Dursleys and his previous school.

"Is that why you train so hard, because of bullies and terrorist?" Jasmine asked.

"Yes it is. I fear that some day they will find out I survived that night and will try again and what is a terrorist? He's nothing more than a grown up bully."

They enjoyed the rest of the school year with out further incident. On the last day of the school year Miss Tomas addressed the class. "I would like to congratulate ten students on outstanding grades and marked improvement over this year. They are: Miss Hermione Granger who scored top of the class. Mister Harry Potter came in a close second. Two percentage points, I believe. Miss Jasmine Johnson and Mister Shaun O'Toole tied for third. Mister Michel Newman, Thom McKinnon, Josh Finnly, Miss Susan Jones, Debora McNamara, and Patricia McKinnon all tied for forth. The scores achieved by these students are the highest recorded in twenty years. I am proud of all of you."

"We owe it all to Harry and Hermione." Shouted Mike.

At the end of the day Harry and Hermione got the group together in the school yard. "We're going to miss you guys next year. I wish you all could come with us, but it is sort of an elite and snobbish school and it takes a lot of money to attend. It was my parents' last wish that I attend so it's already paid for. And we all know I would flunk without Hermione there to bail me out."

"You will write won't you?" Jasmine asked anxiously.

"We both will, but because of security, I hope you understand that the letters will go through our parents." replied Hermione.

"I wouldn't care if the were delivered by 007 as long as we can keep in touch," joked Mike who was a James Bond fan.


	17. Chapter 17

The Dursleys go to court

The 17th of June was normally a happy day for Dudley Dursley. It was his birthday and it was normally filled with presents and a day out with his parents and friends. But not this year. This year he would be in her majesties court watching as his father defended him self. You see Vernon had been arrested two months ago on multiple charges. And the hardest pill for Dudley to swallow was that they thought that the way they treated his freak cousin was wrong. The only good part for Dudley was he was out of that home for awhile.

"Hear ye! Hear ye! This session of the Queens court is now in session. Magistrate Mathias presiding."

Harry was not happy to be here, but the court ordered his presence as a possible witness. He remembered the magistrate from his custody hearing, he remembered telling her that as long as he never had to face these people again, he would be happy and leave it at that. Apparently she had other ideas.

"The case of Vernon Brian Dursley will now be heard. Vernon Dursley you are charged with seven counts of statutory rape, child abandonment, and fifty counts of child abuse, neglect, slavery and imprisonment. How do you plead?"

"The defendant pleads not guilty." Jim Simpson, the Dursley's barrister, stated plainly. That was the only thing that might go well for Vernon Dursley.

John Michaels, the prosecuting Barrister, started the opening arguments. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is our intention to show the systematic way in which Vernon Dursley would lead the young women in his employ down the road of self depreciation and servitude that lead to them being raped, impregnated and then let go. All this was just to prove to him self that he, Vernon Dursley, could do this and get away with it.

"We also intend to prove that he, in a more despicable manor, did the same to a child in his care. The result of this was not of a sexual nature, but the systematic destruction of a young mans self worth. The physical and verbal assaults on this young man could have had dire consequences if the boy's own determination to survive wasn't so strong. But make no mistake, there was damage done and we will show you the results."

Harry gripped Hermione's hand and looked at her in pure terror. True his friends had just told him that the scars that he had did not make a difference to them, but now the whole world would see what he had endured. He was not sure if he was strong enough to show his back in open court and relive the hell that was his life before the Grangers.

He stood and tried to pull Hermione with him. He had to get out of here now. "Hermione, let's go. I can't do this. I just can't."

"ORDER! ORDER in the court. We will have order or you will be removed."

John Michaels had never met Harry and couldn't understand what was going on with the young man until he overheard Vernon speak to his barrister. "I hope the little freak does a runner. Without him they have no abuse case." After the picture he had seen, John hadn't planned on putting Harry on the stand. That's why he had never met with Harry. With the x-rays and photos that he was provided with and Vernon's own journal, all he needed from Harry, was his presence in the court room just to prove he existed. He could understand the young man's anxiety.

"Your Honor, if it pleases the court, may I take a moment to talk to the young man?"

"For what purpose?" Mathias asked.

"To assure the young man that he does not have to take the stand; that he just needs to be here."

Mathias looked at Harry as he pleaded with the young girl. The terror she saw reminded her of the custody hearing. "Please make it brief."

John walked over to Harry, "Mr. Potter, my name is John Michaels. Please believe me when I say that I had no intentions of calling you as a witness. I just needed you here to show the court that you truly existed. The photos and x-rays that have been provided by the investigators will be sufficient for your part of the case against Mr. Dursley. Please calm down."

"I don't have to do anything?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"No Mr. Potter, just sit back and watch justice at work."

Harry looked at Hermione, Dan and Emma who all nodded that it would be all right.

"Sorry about all this Mr. Michaels." With that said, he sat down next to Hermione, never letting go of her hand.

Harry watched as the first two women that Vernon had his way with, were questioned. The defense barrister was ruthless in his cross exam and Harry could see a trend. If nothing else could be said about Harry, he was observant. Their testimony was picked apart leaving doubt as to wither or not they had sex with Vernon willingly or not. Harry also noticed the other five were looking at each other questioning whither they should testify or not. Seeing the young children with them, Harry made a decision that would affect them for the rest of their lives. Asking Hermione for the note pad she always carried, he wrote a short note and handed it to Mr. Gulliver, who had accompanied them.

"I need you to get this to Mr. Michaels as soon as possible."

The court had called a brief recess and John Gulliver made his way to the prosecutors table and handed Mr. Michaels the note. It read; I need to speak to your witnesses in private as soon as possible. H. Potter

John didn't know what to do. His case was coming apart. Even with having Vernon's journal as a guide, the defense was intimidating his witnesses and tearing their stories apart. But Harry wasn't a barrister, hell he was a minor so he reasoned there wouldn't be anything unethical about him seeing them. He asked for a half hour recess to confer with his remaining witnesses. The recess was granted. As Mr. Michaels was leading the five young ladies out of the court room, Harry turned to Hermione. "We have to follow them."

Dan started to get up. "No, Dad. I don't think you would be allowed where I'm going."

"He's right Dan." Mr. Gulliver said. "Harry wants to talk to the other witnesses and you might intimidate them."

Harry and Hermione joined the last five women that come here to get justice in a conference room just down the hall from the court room.

"Ladies, my name is Harry Potter. I know that it doesn't mean anything to you but it will. I am ten years old and lived with Vernon Dursley most of my life. I know he is a beast.' He looked at the floor. 'I have no idea what he did to you, but I do know he hurt you I a way I don't understand. What I do know is that the children you have with you are his and he is denying that fact."

"That's right but what's it to you?"

"You all have the look of panic. You're wondering if it is worth it be exposed on the stand and have your life ripped apart in front of everybody. I promise you this.' He said in a determined voice. 'If you take the stand and hold tight to the truth, I will take the stand." A tear left his eye.

"What good will a child's testimony do to help us?"

With a look of deep sorrow and hurt he asked in a trembling voice, "Did you hear the other charges, the ones of child abuse?" when they nodded in yes, "I am that child. I don't want to do this. I don't want the world to know how I was treated, but I will if you will."

"Was it truly that bad as to make a difference?"

Tears freely running now he just nodded. Hermione hugged him as she looked at the women. "Worst than you can imagine. I know first hand what it will cost Harry to do this. Will you show the same courage?"

"Come on, Harry. We should go back now."

"Well ladies, do you believe him? Do we trust him? I don't know why, but I do and I **will** take the stand, for me, for my child and for him." She looked at the door as she finished speaking.

Upon entering the courtroom Mr. Michaels approached Harry and Hermione. "Are you all right?"

"I will be. Mr. Michaels, I want you to put me on the stand."

"There's no need Harry. I told you that."

"Yes there is. I made a promise to those ladies that if the stayed and told the truth I would take the stand. I can't break that promise. I gave my word." These last words spoken just as the other witnesses came back into the room.

The rest of the morning and that afternoon went much as the first part of the day had gone, but the women would not fold under pressure. They held to the truth that Vernon had sexually abused them using their jobs and threats to have his way with them.

Four of the five had finished that day.

"Mr. Gulliver, would you tell the witnesses that finished today, that if they come back tomorrow, they will not be disappointed."

"What are you going to do Harry? Asked a concerned Emma Granger.

"What is right and full fill a promise."

**June 18****th**

Harry and the Grangers arrived in the courtroom at 8:30, a half hour before the proceedings were scheduled to begin. Harry saw the seven women that were also witnesses and gave them a polite nod.

When the last of Vernon's ladies was finished, Mr. Michaels made a statement. "So far the defense has attempted to persuade you to believe that the women you heard from were trollips, prostitutes and whores looking for a handout. They claim that the dairy the investigators found in his desk was a fantasy diary of what he would like to do. Strange how the dates match hotel records. However there is something else in that diary. There are dates, times and punishments given to a child in his care. A child of his dead sister-in-law. I will now show you the photo's take of his body to show the marks left from those punishments. I have x-rays and specialist to confirm the validity of what you see. Sworn statements from neighbors that saw the child working out side in all kinds of weather tending the gardens and lawn. And finally, and I had not planned on doing this, but that child made a promise yesterday and now it is time for him to fulfill it. I call Harry James Potter to the stand."

Whatever color Vernon had in his face disappeared with those words. He felt that whatever hope he had to be free died as well.

After being sworn in, Mr. Michaels started his questioning.

"Hello Harry. May I call you Harry?"

"I would prefer it sir."

"Harry do you know Vernon Dursley?"

"Yes sir."

"How do you know Mr. Dursley?"

"He's my uncle and I lived under his roof for eight years."

"Don't you mean your home?"

"No. I never considered that house my home."

"Why not?"

"People are welcomed into a home. I was never welcome there."

"Why do you say that Harry? Aren't they your family?"

"No sir, they are my relatives by blood, but they are not my family. I know that I am unwelcome there because me tell me that all the time."

"What else do they tell you Harry?"

"That I'm a freak, that I'm a waste of space, (sob) not worth what little they feed me, (sniff) or the hand me downs they give me."

"Have they ever bought you anything, something just for you?"

"**Objection!"** Vernon burst out.

"ORDER! ORDER," "Mr. Simpson control your client or I'll have him removed."

"Answer the question, Harry." The magistrate order in a firm but not loud voice.

"No, sir. I never got anything new."

"Give us an example of your day when you lived with the Dursleys."

"Aunt Petunia would wake me at six to fix breakfast."

"What was your aunt doing during this time?"

"Either waking Vernon and Dudley or looking out the window."

"Why would she be looking out the window? Was she expecting someone?"

"Oh no. She would be looking to see if the neighbors were doing something she could gossip about it later."

"Okay, so you were left to fix breakfast. What did it consist of, toast and cereal?"

"I wish it was that simple. It was always two rashers of bacon and a dozen eggs with half a loaf of toast."

"She left you to fix all that by yourself?"

"Yes." He said with a shrug.

"How much of that did you eat?"

Harry dropped his head and mumbled "a slice of plain toast."

"What was that Harry? You have to speak up so we can all hear you."

"A slice of plain toast."

"Out of all that you described that you fixed for breakfast, all you got was a slice of plain toast?"

"If I was lucky."

"Would you explain that statement, please?"

"If I wasn't in trouble for something, I would get something to eat."

"How often were you in trouble?"

"It seemed like all the time, but I know it was more like 60-75 % of the time."

"We'll come back to that. What else did you do?"

"I have to go out and weed the flower beds, trim the hedges and mow the lawn."

"That doesn't sound like much. Tell me Harry, how big were the flower beds?"

"The one in front of their house is about four feet deep and twenty feet long. The one in back is four feet deep and thirty five to forty feet long."

"That's a lot of garden to take care of. How long did you have to do the weeding?"

"Until lunch."

""You had about four hours then. What happens if you didn't get done?"

"Nothing pleasant."

"Did they yell at you? …"

"Objection! He's leading the witness."

"Over ruled. Answer the question."

"It would depend on if Aunt Petunia wanted to wait until Uncle Vernon got home. If she didn't or felt a little lenient, she would just slap my head as she yelled. Uncle Vernon would either hit me with his fist or kick me, sometimes both. It depended on what kind of day he had at work."

"So Vernon dished out the harsher punishments."

"Yes. Always."

"What else did you have to do?"

"Mow the yard, trim the hedges. When I wasn't working out doors, I had to clean the house. Any work that needed done out side was mine to do."

"Such as?"

"Cleaning the gutters, painting the house, whatever." He shrugged.

"You have a cousin that lives there too, don't you?"

"Yes."

"What chores does he have to do?"

"The only thing Dudley does is eat and watch the telley."

"He didn't have to do anything but lay about?"

"No."

"All right. We have established that you have a lot of chores to do and you are punished if they are not done. Let's speak now of the punishments. What kinds of punishments have you received?"

"For what offense?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes. Different mistakes or lack of work effort got different punishments. For example, if I burnt the bacon or an egg, I got burned. Doing better than Dudley in school was the belt. Existing got me punched."

"Tell us, Harry, during any of your punishments, did you ever suffer from a broken bone?"

"Quite often. Uncle Vernon's hands are quite big and he's stronger than he looks. He kicks pretty hard too. Dudley had gotten pretty good swinging his cricket bat."

"A cricket bat? Didn't you try to run?"

"It's hard to run when your being held."

"Who was holding you?"

"Uncle Vernon."

"Where was you aunt when this was going on?"

"She was usually watching."

"Did she ever try to stop it?"

"Why would she?"

"She doesn't seem the type does she? ..."

"No."

"That was a rhetorical question, Harry. You didn't have to answer it."

"OH, sorry." He replied sheepishly.

"Harry we checked all the hospitals in London and the surrounding area and there are no records of you ever visiting one before August of last year. If you had broken bones as you claim, why is there no record of them being set?"

"I guess because I had never been in a hospital before then."

"Then who set your bones?"

"I did as best I could. It turns out I wasn't very good at it."

"How did you manage the pain?"

"As quietly as possible. It wasn't easy. It hurt. A lot." A tear leaked from his eye as he remebered the pain.

"You said you weren't very good at it. What did you mean?"

"When I first met the Grangers and a healer looked me over and told what was wrong with me, she pointed out that my arms were crooked and short. She had me put my arm next to Hermione's. I thought they were different because I was a boy and she was a girl." Snickers broke out at this comment. "Then she explained that gender didn't matter. The arm should be straight wither you are a boy or girl."

"May I see your arm?"

"Sure." He stood and pushed his shirt sleeve up.

"It looks straight to me."

"The people that were trying to undo the damage to my body from years of neglect had to redo all the work I did. It is not something I care to repeat."

"Now then Harry we have established that you have been beaten with fist, feet and a cricket bat. Is there any thing else?"

Harry looked up at the magistrate. "Please your Honor?"

"Please what Harry?"

"Hermione." He whispered. Fear evident in his eyes once more. She remembered the last time he had to show his upper torso in this court.

"Miss Granger would you come up here please?"

"Your Honor I must protest. This is highly irregular."

"I agree, but I can guarantee she is here for moral support only."

Hermione stood behind Harry as he pulled his shirt tail out and unbuttoned the bottom three buttons. He then turned and faced her. He started to tremble as she lifted his shirt. He placed his hands on her shoulders as the shirt went higher and started to whimper. When it was three quarters of the way up, you could hear people gagging, one even wretched.

"That's enough Miss Granger you can put his shirt back down." It took Harry several minutes to regain his composure. "Due you need a break. Harry?" the magistrate inquired.

"No your Honor. I want to get this over with."

"Very well, continue Mr. Michaels."

"Harry, I saw the pictures taken of your back taken last year. Your back, while still horrible, looks better than it did then. Is that true?"

"Yes. The people that have worked to return me to the best possible health tell me that is as good as it will ever get. Age may help a little but nothing else can be done to repair the damage."

"Harry, I can't imagine how hard this is for you, but we need to know. What caused those scars?"

"Uncle Vernon beat me with a studded belt."

"How many times?"

"More than ten, I quit counting after that."

"More than ten lashes?"

"I meant more than ten occasions."

"I have no more questions at this time, your Honor."

"As it is the lunch hour will recess for one hour. We will reconvene at one P.M."

"Bailiff, get someone in here to clean up that mess."

As they exited the court room, the seven women that were witness against Vernon came up to Harry and his party. "Mr. Potter, if we had known yesterday how hard this would be for you, we would have asked you not to do it."

"It's Harry, just Harry and a promise is a promise and I will never break a promise if there is any way to fulfill it."

"We will all remember your courage and try everyday to live up to your code of honor. Thank you Harry."

"I don't care any more what he did to me. That part of my life is over and I would just as soon forget it. But what he did to you ladies will be with you for a long time. If you want to honor what I did, love your children. My parents were murdered when I was a baby and you see what happened to me. So please give your children a better life and never lie to them. That's all I ask."

"We will Harry."

With Hermione hand in his, he turned and walked away head held high and back straight. A short way down the hall, Dan ushered him into the men's' restroom to straighten his shirt.

John Gulliver was the last to leave and overheard on of the women. "That little girl has one hell of a man with her. I wonder if she knows how lucky she is."

John shook his head as he walked away wondering the same thing. He thought to him self, 'Chivalry isn't dead, it's just in a small package.'

They ate in a small restaurant near the court house for convenience. No one spoke at first, than Dan just had to comment. "That a nice little speech you gave those ladies. I'm sure it meant a lot to them." Harry blushed to his hair line.

"I just spoke from the heart. I don't want their kids to suffer because of Vernon. Which reminds me John; I want you to get their names and stuff and set up a ten thousand pound a year trust for those kids."

"Harry you are not responsible for what Vernon did."

"I know, but if I don't help them who will. The state? We all know Vernon won't. Grunnings, I doubt it. Just do it. Set it up with the goblins. I'll get the authorization."

"You're not head of house yet, Harry." Hermione reminded him.

"Do you think Aunt Minnie will fight me on this?"

"No. She will probably applaud you for it."

"I can afford it especially now that we got that mess at the bank straightened out."

No one else beside the Blacks even came close to his resources and with Sirius in prison; that account was not doing anything.

When court reconvened, Harry returned to the stand and was reminded he was still under oath.

Vernon's Lawyer Mr. Simpson approached. "My I call you Harry, Mr. Potter?"

"I would prefer it."

"Now Harry, you testified that you are ten years old. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"You also testified that you only lived with Mr. Dursley for about eight years. Is that also correct?"

"Yes."

"That leaves two years unaccounted for. Where did you live for those two years?"

"I lived with my parents until they were murdered. I was told I would have been about eighteen months old at the time. Since early august of last year I have lived with my new family the Grangers."

"I see. How many of the injuries that you received have they given you?"

"None."

"Isn't it true that one week into the school year you were beaten up?"

"Yes, but…"

"And isn't also true that you had to go to the emergency for a hit to the head w a week later?"

"Yes, but…"

"So it would appear you are no safer there than before. Isn't it true you are just accident prone and the injuries you received at the Dursleys were your own fault?"

"No."

"How can we be sure? I mean I see an accident prone child not one that was abused."

"Mr. Simpson," Harry nearly shouted, "let me explain. Regardless of how I was treated by the Dursleys. I do have a code of honor I'm told. I do not lie. I do not break a promise if it is at all possible to fulfill it and I am not accident prone as you call it. I try to protect those that can't protect themselves. The first time I was hurt after going to live with the Grangers, I was defending Hermione from school yard bullies. There were five of them if had cared to find out. And the second time was while I was learning how to defend my self and others. Get your facts straight." Harry was huffing by the end.

"You said that your parents were murdered. Who killed them?"

"I don't know." He replied dejectedly. "But I will find out."

"Why so you can seek vengeance like you are against the Dursleys?"

"No! I want to know so I can find out why he killed them. Why he left me an orphan so I can protect my new family. I don't want him to come looking for them too.' He looked at the Grangers. 'It would kill me to loose them."

"No further question, Your Honor."

"You may step down now, Harry."

"Your Honor, may I say something first?"

"Does it have to do with the case before us?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Very well, I will allow it."

Harry looked right at the Dursleys. "Vernon, Petunia, Dudley, I would have rather none of us be here and if it had just been what you did to me, I wouldn't have taken the stand. I didn't want people to know how I was treated by you. I didn't want the shame you made me feel to be known. But when I found out what you had done to those women and then wouldn't do the honorable thing and take care of children that **you** brought into this world, I couldn't stand by and do nothing. When I was in this room last year for a custody hearing, the magistrate here asked me how I would punish you if I could. I told her if I never saw you again it would suit me just fine.

"Being here now, I know that was wrong. What kind of message does that leave for Dudley and any other man? That it is alright to hurt people with out fear of punishment. That women are play things? I am too young to fully understand what you did, but I have seen the way Mr. Granger treats his wife. There is love in everything he does to her or for her. I hope that one day, when I am old enough and find the right woman, that I follow his example and not yours."

"If I had told Magistrate Mathias then that I would like to see you punished to the full extent of the law, I wouldn't have the guilt of knowing I almost let you ruin the lives of fourteen people. If I hadn't been ordered to be here, and seen for myself how Mr. Simpson tore their testimony apart, you might have got off. Mr. Simpson is a very good at what he does. Those women were ready to give up and bear the shame you placed on them. **It is not their shame. It is yours**. I forgive you. I don't think any one else will, but I still hope you get what you deserve. We all will in the end. Good-bye." And Harry left the stand. No one spoke.

A/N: I doubt I will do a chapter on the sentencing. Use your imagination, but know they were found guilty on all charges. I know the last two chapters were short, but I felt they should have their own chapter. The next chapter will be from scratch so it will take a while. These last three had been in the works for months. Be patient.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer; don't own the characters, just this plot.

Chapter 18: Claiming His Inheritance

The first opportunity for the Families to gather was near the end of June for Daphne's birthday. The children knew that something more important then a birthday would take place today, but were determined Daphne would have her day as well. Harry, Hermione and her parents took a portkey to Greengrass Manor as it would seem strange to celebrate the girl's birthday elsewhere.

The Manor was elegant and overstated the family wealth. Black and white marble adorned the foyer floor that was the arrival point while rich mahogany panel covered the walls. An elegant chandelier was the center piece of the room. A single wide staircase dominated the back of the room. They were lead to the Ball room were the party would be held. The floor was hard wood parquet, the wall were a warm honey oak. Two chandeliers would provide lighting when the sun went down. One wall seemed to consist of nothing but windows. At one end of the room, three small tables were set up for presents and for eating.

The party was scheduled to start at two in the afternoon. Harry and Hermione had brought two sets of clothes for today. One set of plain robes for the party and a set of formal robes for the meeting to follow.

Even though Madam Longbottom had taught Harry and Hermione customs and traditions of being a Lord and Head of House, they really didn't know what to expect today. The six children they had met had become friends and enjoyed each others company at The Granger residence. This however was different, it was a more formal function then they were used to. Neville and Terry wore simple but well made robes. Susan, Daphne, Tracey and Hannah were all dressed in fine robes; they were definitely not something one would play in. So any physical type games were out for the day.

While the adults from the other families were around, Daphne and Tracy appeared standoffish. Harry and Hermione had met with them often enough to know this was not their normal personality and wonder if they could or should try to emulate them.

"Daphne,' Harry whispered in her ear, 'should Hermione and I act the same way?"

She shook her head no and mouthed 'Later.' Harry just bowed his head slightly. Harry would never classify aristocratic parties as fun, they were pleasant. It seemed to last longer than it actually did. After it was over, Daphne pulled Harry off to the side. "Harry, my parents raised me to act a certain way in public and these families expect it. You and Hermione are unknown quantities and are not expected to act a certain way yet. Be yourselves but don't back down in front of them. It's the best advice I can give. Good Luck."

Harry and Hermione were shown to a room were they could change for the meeting to come. Harry was nervous, he had met with the goblin leader and did well, he thought, but the goblin didn't expect him to lead them. The adults he was about to meet did.

When Madam Longbottom escorted them in to the dinning room that was being used for this meeting, there were ten people already sitting at the table. They were led to the head of the table. She sat to his left, Hermione sat to his right.

Harry remained standing. "Good afternoon. I am Harry James Potter; the last scion of the House of Potter. To my right is my good friend and advisor, Hermione Jean Granger."

"Please introduce yourselves." Hermione had a note pad and brillo ready.

To Madam Longbottom's left were Lord and Lady Stephen Greengrass, to their right was The Lord and Lady Abbott. To Hermione's right were Lord and Lady Boot then Lord and Lady Davis and last but not least was Madam Bones, Regent of the House of Bones.

Harry stood again. "Madam Longbottom has kept me informed of what she has told you and what you have thought. I have one question for Madam Bones. Why is Susan not here?"

"She's too young and as regent it is my duty to handle family matters."

"Then why am I here? We are the same age. Or soon will be."

"You will soon claim the Head of House, something Susan can not do until she comes of age or I die."

Harry sat down and leaned back in his chair and thought. "Is the same true for the rest of your children?"

"No. My son Terry is second in line."

"Tracey cannot inherit, it is against family law. My son will inherit even though he is two years younger."

"Neville is in the same position as Susan."

"So I am unique, I hold my family's power at age eleven where none other can. I'm going to be up front with all of you, though I've been advised against it. I don't want to be here. I don't want the responcibilty of leading you. You are adults, I'm a child still learning about all this. But I will do what is necessary to up-hold family tradition. I will lead you if that is what is required. I will listen to your advice and make the best possible decision I can, praying that it is the right one."

"It has been a while since Madam Longbottom has spoken to you. Do any of you have any idea where we are as far as proving that Voldemort is alive or dead?"

"What makes you think he might still be alive after all this time?" inquired Lord Greengrass.

"You all assumed I was dead without seeing a body and here I am. The goblins have established my identity with a blood test. Voldemort's body was, as far as I know, never found. Where did it go? Did he just vanish? Until I have proof he is dead, I will assume he is alive. I don't want to wake up some morning looking at his ugly face."

"You all lived through his last reign of terror, I didn't. You know what happened and what we can do to prepare in case it starts again."

They all started talking over each other. "**Silence!" **Harry screamed**. **"Look, I don't like the idea of a mad man coming back any better than you do. I'm getting ready to start Hogwarts in the fall. I would love nothing more than to enjoy my time there with your children. But as the Head of my house, it would be irresponsible of me and you not to act on what we know. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best, as the saying goes."

"Now. What should we do?"

"We need more allies." Came from Lord Boot.

"We need to repeal some laws and get more funding for Auroras." Came from Madam Bones.

"What do mean Madam Bones?"

"Minister Fudge has been cutting our budget for the last several years. His excuse is we don't need as large a force in peace time."

"Who backed him on these cuts?"

"Suspected supporters of you-know- who."

"Stop right there. I noticed that every time I said Voldemort, you all flinch. Why?"

"As you said, Lord Potter…"

"Harry. Until I claim head of house, it's just Harry."

"Harry. You weren't around the last time. Fear was rampant and people still fear to speak his name."

"Psychological warfare.' Harry nodded his head. 'He is not god. As long as you fear to speak his name, he has you beat even when he is not around. How can you expect to win?"

"You don't know what fear is? How can you ridicule us that have seen what they can do to a family?" asked Lord Abbot.

"What makes you think that I don't know what fear is? I lived in fear for eight years while you didn't know I existed. Fear that every day would be my last. Fear of another beating that would leave me with either another broken bone or dead. Fear that another lashing would leave more scars marking me for the freak they thought I was. Fear that I would not eat again. Don't tell me I don't know fear. Fear and pain are old friends that I hope are behind me. I will not fear a name, not again. Get over it."

"What scars, Harry?"

"Madam Longbottom, do you have that folder I asked you to keep for me? I will not undress to show them."

She returned ten minutes later. "Ladies, unless you have a very strong stomach, I strongly suggest you not look at these pictures."

As the pictures made their way around the table, all the women except Madam Bones got up and left. Phrases like 'Damn Muggles' and 'they'll pay for this' could be heard.

"Harry?" Madam bones asked.

"Yes, Madam Bones."

"What is being done about this?"

"First let me say that all muggles are not responsible for what happened to me. Many were as upset as you are. I live now with the family of a first gen witch and two kinder, more loving people you couldn't ask for. They pushed to get custody of me. To save me and help me heal. The magistrate at my hearing wanted to know what I wanted to happen to the Dursleys. I told her if I never saw them again it would suit me just fine. …"

"That's outrageous." "You can't mean that."

"**Silence**. If you would let me finish.' Harry stood and power rolled of him as he fought to control his anger. 'The magistrate didn't like my answer either. She didn't tell me, but conducted her own investigation. It seems dear Uncle Vernon liked to prey on young women until he got what he wanted and then fired them leaving them to deal with the aftermath.' Harry was struggling to control his emotions.

'Seven women with children he fathered were willing to testify. But he had a very good Barrister. He was shredding their lives there in court. I didn't want to be there. I was ashamed of what he had done to me. I was afraid I would have to take the stand. But after seeing those women lose hope of getting any kind of justice, I made them a promise. If they stuck to it and held to the truth, I would take the stand and tell the world just what an ass Vernon really was. They saw what he did to me and understood what my word means to me. He was found guilty on all charges. He is to be sentenced in two weeks. If we feel it is not enough, I will turn the goblins loose."

"You wouldn't?" was asked in awe.

"Wouldn't I? But understand this; I'm not doing it just for myself. I'm doing it for those women and their children."

Everyone at the table looked at Harry in a new light. Here was a young man that had a definite code of honor and justice that hadn't been seen since the time of Arthur and the round table. Maybe, just maybe a new age was about to start.

Rita Skeeter had been sitting in a muggle pub nursing a gin and tonic on the eighteenth of June. Her reputation for writing scandal had gotten so bad that all conversation stopped when she walked into a magical bar. She needed a big story to break out of the gossip column and on to the front page where she was supposed to be. A name mentioned on the muggle telley dropped the biggest story ever right into her now seriously shaking hands.

The newsreader's use of the name 'Harry Potter' had immediately focused her attention on the box attached to the wall. The trial had just concluded. 'The ten-year-old boy had been systematically and brutally tortured by his relatives for years.' The picture on the telley could only have been a son of James Potter. He had been well known and had many political enemies at the time of his death. His picture had been in the paper often enough for anybody to recognize him.

Rita was quite well acquainted with the muggle media machine and understood that anything that made it onto the box as news would also appear in their printed media. She downed her drink and made a bee-line for the nearest newsstand to buy every paper she could get hold off that carried the Potter article.

Back in her flat with the various publications spread around her, Rita was positive this child was the Last Potter who was believed to have died in '81. She pieced the different articles together to form a picture. This boy's parents, indentified as James and Lily Potter, were murdered Halloween Night 1981. He then lived, illegally, with his mother's sister until old friends of the family found him by accident last August and removed him from an abusive situation. The abuse was documented with pictures and something called x-rays showing broken bones that have never been treated.

That brought up the biggest dilemma of her life. She could easily race with this to the Prophet and get her front page story in tomorrow's edition, but there was another part of this story that Rita wanted badly. Who put him there? Why were they told, by one of their leaders, that he had died with his parents?

Waiting was an extremely risky ploy as someone else could break the story. Against this, however, she would then have the information that nobody else had, and before the people involved had a chance to destroy it. Rita was heading toward the ministry; aiming to use her special talent and snoop around every record pertaining to Harry Potter she could get her mitts on.

If the story had broken before she had the name, then Rita was sure the Prophet would run a special edition with her headlining it. Merlin, they probably wouldn't run anything else for the next few weeks. It took weeks of searching, but she felt she had the story of the decade if not the century.

It had taken her weeks of digging, something she wasn't used to. Her normal style was half-truths and innuendo. But the more she dug the more intriguing the story became. She never would have thought the truth could be so fascinating. She had gone to the hall of records were all birth, deaths and marriages were recorded. She found Lily and James death recorded, but not Harry's. She found records of secret Wizengamot meetings to bury the Potter will and keep any one from claiming the Potter estate. And as much as she hated the goblins, after she showed them what she had found and what she planned to do, gave her copies of records where Dumbledore had tried to gain access to the Potter vaults.

She hadn't met with young Harry personally, but had his permission to print the story if she waited until the second of September along with a statement from him and a nice bonus for waiting. She was giddy with excitement.

**July 31, 1991**

Harry and the Grangers arrived at Gringrotts at eight in the morning, dressed in the best formal robes money could buy. On his left breast was the Potter crest. To say he was nervous would be an understatement for today he would formally declare himself as Head of House Potter and take on all the responsibilities that go with it. Not only that, but the Grangers would declare themselves under House Potter protection. A position Harry was not sure he wanted but understood the need.

They stood in Ragnook's office along with the Lord and Lady Greengrass, Lord and Lady Boots, Lord and Lady Davis, Madam Longbottom and Madam Bones in her capacity as the regent of House Bones. All of them wore their Head of House finery to witness Harry's ascension to his Lordship. Ragnook was dressed in goblin armor as befit his station, Mythral inlaid with gold armor, his War hammer hanging at his side.

"Today it is my honor to see the rise of Harold James Potter as the Head of House Potter. To long has the House of Potter been silent. Let us look forward to renewed alliances and great profit." Everyone looked to Harry.

"I, Harold James Potter, Last Scion of the House of Potter claim my heritage as is my right by blood and magic."

Everyone had been prepared for the flash of magic as he claimed his head of house, but what they actually witnessed was not. The glow that emanated from Harry was so bright they had to shield their eyes. When it faded, not only did he have the Potter ring, but also the ring of Gryffindor, Preverell and Slytherin. Harry staggered for a moment. "Damn that hurt."

"Language, Harry."

"Ooops." He replied sheepishly, holding his head with one hand as Hermione hugged him in order to keep him from falling. He looked at the others in the room.

"I knew that the magic of the Family ring would affect me somewhat, but why did it hit so hard?"

"Lord Potter,' Harry frowned, 'it wasn't just the Potter ring. Look at your hand." Sure enough he saw what they did, four family rings instead of one.

"What happened? I thought I was just claiming the Potter ring?"

"It was the way you worded your claim. Instead of just asking for the Potter heritage, you asked for your heritage by magic and blood."

"Oh...Shit!"

"Language!" exclaimed all in the room.

**August 1, 1991**

Harry woke up with a splitting headache. The magic of the rings had dumped massive amounts of information in his head and he was still sorting through it all. It wouldn't have been so bad if it had just been one ring but he had four all at once. Occlumency helped sort the information and categorize it, but it was still a lot to take in. Who would have thought magic could hide so much information in something as small as a ring.

The Peverill ring gave him an understanding of the beginnings of magic in its base form, wandless magic and the use of the staff. The Gryffindor ring gave him an understanding of battle magic and weapons in battle. The Potter ring gave him an understanding of justice and fair play. It also emphasized the all magical beings had a place in the world and not to be judgmental. Slytherins' ring gave him what he desired most, an understanding of Salazar himself. Contrary to popular belief, he did not want to eliminate muggle-borns; he just felt that they should be separated from the muggle world. He believed that when they were found, they should be brought into the magical world and kept there, separating them from the birth families forever. This was the point of contention between him and the other founders. Too many times young witches and wizards of that era, had been put to death not even realizing what they were.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Life and writers block got in the way. I have changed this part of the story to keep my original plot in order. The news articles previously in this chapter shouldn't have been published until Harry went to Hogwarts, thus the title Harry Potter who.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N:Sorry for the long delay but I lost my train of thought especially after posting some earlier than planned. H.P. and company belong to J.K.R. This little plot is mine.

Chapter 19 Memories and Preparing for Hogwarts

In the days that followed Harry's ascension as Lord Potter, Harry and Hermione discussed what the rings told him, especially the origin of magic and wandless magic.

"Think about it Hermione, we have already done wandless and non-verbal magic."

"What do you mean Harry?"

"The adults call it accidental magic. Any time we do that we are actually doing what comes naturally to all magicals. We call on our magic to do what we want it to do."

"Oh.' She paused, biting her lower lip as she thought, 'Well that does make sense. I wonder if they teach it at school. We should ask Aunt Minnie."

Saturday August 10

"This shall be the last time I will be able to come as I have much to do before term starts." Minerva informed them when she arrived that morning.

"That's fine Aunt Minnie. We just have a few questions." Harry responded.

"And that is something else; you need to get in the habit of calling me Professor McGonagall, not Aunt Minnie. It's unprofessional and other might think I'm showing you favoritism. Which I wont." she said in her stern Professor voice.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other in surprise, "Yes Professor," they replied together.

"Now what is it you would like to know?" she asked in her normal voice.

"The two main questions we have are, do all students learn occulmancy and do you teach wandless and non-verbal magic at school?" Hermione asked.

"Unfortunately no, we do not teach occulmency at school. I understand the not all people have the ability to master occulmency to its fullest, but it is still useful as a learning tool, as it helps organize the mind, making it easier to recall what you know. That is why I started teaching you two at the beginning of the holidays.'

'As to you second question, yes we do, but not until your sixth year."

"Why? Why wait so long?" Harry queried.

"It is widely believed that you are not strong enough until you reach your majority to learn it, and most struggle with it."

Harry thought about her answer for a moment. "Professor, that doesn't make sense."

"What do you mean Harry?"

"Well think about it. You teach your students for six years to use a wand. Then you try to un-teach them what they have learned. Wouldn't it be easier to teach them at the same time our wand magic last? After all they say bad habits are hard to break. Plus the fact that, even if they are unaware, they already perform wandless and non-verbal magic."

"Un-teach, Harry?" Hermione scoffed.

"It was the only thing I could think of at the time." Harry replied embarrassed. "Come on, Hermione, I'm still getting used to letting my intelligence show."

Minerva McGonagall, transfiguration mistress and professor for over forty years, sat back in her chair as she contemplated what Harry had just said. Never in all that time, had she, or anyone else for that matter, considered that children did indeed perform this type of magic before they reached the school.

"Harry, what made you think about this?" she asked softly.

He thought about what he should tell her. Then he remembered something Hermione had said when they were in the study group this past year. 'Knowledge should be shared. How else would advance as a civilization otherwise?' "The Peverell ring gave the basic knowledge of the beginnings of magic use. Wands didn't come about for nearly two hundred years after the first recordings of magic use. Before then it was all wandless and non-verbal. Wands and staves were made to aid the most powerful witches and wizards. After a time they discovered that wands could be used to fine tune what the caster intended. They were not, as far as I can tell, meant to be the only way to use magic."

"What else have the rings told you Harry?" Minerva asked.

"Gryffindor was an immensely powerful wizard in a time when everyone seemed to want to conquer the world, so he was well versed in battle and battle magic. Transfiguration was one of his main weapons followed closely by charms. The Potters were all about justice, fairness and equality for all races. Slytherin was a master at potion and to a lesser degree battle magics.' … 'Professor, what is believed about Slytherin?"

"He is believed to be a dark wizard and hates non-magicals. The story goes that he delved in the dark arts and they consumed him until he and Godric fought before he left the school."

Harry looked at her in shock for a moment. The houses at school had been mentioned and the attributes that each house looked for, but this was the first time ideology was ever mentioned.

"Professor, what if I told you that was a lie?"

"What do you mean, Harry?"

He held up his right hand reminding her that he was the heir of Slytherin. "The ring told me, beside what I said earlier, that Salazar did not delve in the dark arts. Studied, yes, but only so that he and the other founders knew how to combat them. Isn't one of our classes call Defense Against the Dark Arts? It also told me that he did not hate non-magicals but that he believed that when found these children should be separated from the non-magical part of the family and make them forget about the child. The others felt that the family connection was as equally important. This is what caused Salazar to leave the school. He was trying to find a way to protect them and the magical community. He never did find a fool proof way to do that."

"That knowledge will certainly shake up the magical world. Do you have any proof beside the ring?"

"There are books in his vault, but I can't retrieve them yet."

"Why not Harry? If you are the heir, you should have access to the vault?" Hermione spoke for the first time in a while.

"Salazar says that I'm not strong enough yet. I need to learn more before I attempt to enter the vault as it could prove fatal before then."

"Oh." She said in awe and shock and slightly stunned. "Well, you will just have to wait until the ring says it is safe."

"I have one other question for you, Professor; can the Ministry detect wandless magic?"

"Only if one is very powerful and performs it in an area that is not rich in magic such as Diagon Alley, the Ministry or other such places. There is a trace put on your wand that dissipates around your seventeenth birthday. Of course the same rules apply to wandless magic, if performed in a magic rich environment, it would go un-noticed."

"So only those that live in a non-magical home or community would be found if they used magic? That's not fair." Complained Hermione.

"Hermione, while it may not seem fair, you have to understand that the statute of secrecy is in place to protect us from detection. Students performing magic where anyone could see them breaks that secrecy. We do this to prevent witch hunts that were popular in the middle ages." Minerva said imploringly.

"And you have to admit Hermione; that most children our age would be tempted to show their family what they have learned. I can only imagine the frustration that their families must feel. After all they are paying a lot of money for their children to learn something they don't understand and can't see." Reasoned Harry.

"I suppose." She replied after a moment of thought, clearly not happy.

"Is there anything else, Harry? Hermione?"

"No, we have our books, trunks and other supplies. We will spend the rest of the month studying before school."

Harry, Hermione and her father continued their daily workouts and martial arts training. Harry and Hermione also continued to develop the occulmency training that Minerva had given them. It was on Tuesday after Professor McGonagall's visit that Hermione made a startling discovery.

"Harry, how deep into your center have you gone?"

"Not as deeply as I would have liked as I have been sorting all the information the rings have given me. Why?"

"I'm not sure, but I think I have found my magical core."

Harry's eye widened I shock. "What makes you think so?"

"Well, while I was meditating on my center and what you have explained to Aunt Minnie, I touched something I have never felt before."

"What did it feel like?" asked Harry anxiously.

Hermione thought for a moment. "It was more what I saw more than what I felt. It was like this bright ball of energy in the center of my chest. It felt the same as I feel when we are doing magic."

Harry sat in awe as he contemplated what she had described. He then went into the meditative trance that they had learned to center himself. It wasn't long until he saw and felt what Hermione described.

"Wow! Hermione that is awesome.' He then thought for a moment. 'Hermione, I think that we should talk to Professor McGonagall before we do any more with our cores. I would hate to make a mistake at this point and hurt either ourselves or our family."

"I quite agree, Harry. Since she has said that she will be quite busy until term starts, let's wait until we are at school to talk to her."

"Not a bad idea." Harry looked contemplative for a moment.

"Harry, what's on you mind?" Hermione inquired when she saw his look.

"it's been almost a year since I came here and it was revealed that someone had messed with my memory and I was thinking of having one or more of them restored." He didn't look to happy at the prospect.

"Why Harry? Why now?"

"I've been thinking a lot about what was done to me and wonder if maybe I can find out why it was done. Also we will be entering a possible hostile world. We have no idea how people will react when they find out I'm still alive. Especially after Ms. Skeeter's articles are printed."

"That's true Harry. How will we protect ourselves?"

He held up his left hand, "Godric has given me some advice on that subject. We will practice wandless and non-verbal magic to defend our selves. A good shield charm will be the most effective way to stop an attack."

"Okay, Harry, that sounds like a plan. Now when do you want to find out about those memories?"

"If the curse breaker is available, I would like to do it this weekend. Preferably Friday night."

"Why Friday night?"

"I'll have the whole weekend to sort it out and have the family around for support."

She beamed at him, "That's really well thought out, Harry." Harry just blushed at the praise. The mental scars left by the Dursleys still ran deep, but they were healing a little at a time.

With a quick well worded note Hedwig was off to Gringotts and returned two hours later confirming that the curse breaker was indeed available and would be there Friday as requested.

Friday found an anxious Harry pacing his room.

"Harry, Sit." Hermione commanded him. "Wearing a hole in the carpet is not going to make the time go by any faster. I know you're anxious Harry. I would be to, but you must learn patience."

"I know, Mione. But this is big and to tell the truth, I'm scared."

"Scared of what, Harry?"

"I'm afraid I won't like what I see or that…or that you won't like me any more." He replied with a trembling voice, fear etched on his face.

"Harry, didn't I promise you that I would always be here for you?" she asked as she hugged him.

"I know I'm probably being foolish, but…" he trailed off.

"God, I wish I could do something to the people that hurt you so much." She said as a tear fell onto his shoulder.

"They will get theirs in the end, Hermione. You have to believe that."

"Harry, Hermione, Longknife is here." Emma called up the stairs.

Harry and Hermione walked down the stairs hand in hand.

"Where would be the best to do this?" Harry asked.

"Since you wish to have so many present, I think here would be best." Replied Longknife.

Harry looked around the room. Dan and Emma were here along with Andromeda Tonks, in case a healer was needed, and Augusta Longbottom.

"Is there any way to pick a memory?"

"No Lord Potter, only the one who cast the spell would be able to tell them apart."

With a firm resolve, Harry said, "Let's do this. Just one memory." He reminded Longknife.

The Goblin curse breaker nodded and began his chant, waving his hand near Harry's head.

'_He was six and had come home at the end of the fall term with his evaluation in hand. He was proud of his marks. Then after Uncle Vernon read it, it started. The pain was enormous and unexpected. He was on the floor looking up at a furious Uncle. "__**HOW DARE YOU USE YOUR FREACKISHNESS TO DO BETTER THAN OUR DUDDERS**__?" He screamed at Harry as he proceeded to kick or stomp on every part of the small boy he could reach Harry he could reach. After what seemed to Harry to be an eternity, he was thrown into his cupboard, left to heal as best he could. Scraps were left just inside the door. Then just as he thought he was going to die, a man in garish purple robes with stars and moons floating across them appeared, pulled out his wand and healed him enough not to die. Then erased the memory of his suffering but not the cause.'_

As Harry was reliving the memory in his mind, he was unaware that his body was reacting to it. Right as his memory showed him fall to the floor after being hit, his body actually fell. As the memory of the beating rolled on in his mind, his body curled up in a ball, hands over his head in an effort to protect himself. Tears rolled down his face, his face contorted in pain, Harry gasped as if struck. He moaned as each blow he remembered landed. "I'll never do it again Uncle Vernon." His body shook as if struck time and time again.

Hermione had tears streaking her face as Harry relived what had to be a night mare in his mind. She knelt and tried to hold him, to offer what comfort she could, but it was if he could not feel her arms around him. Finally it was over. Even though tears ran freely down his face he never uttered a sound other than to promise that he would not do it again.

Once Andi was sure the memory was over, she forced a calming draft into Harry. Slowly as the potion took effect, Harry's body relaxed. His breathing was still rapid and shallow as if he were still in the memory.

"HARRY! HARRY! Come back to us Harry." Hermione pleaded.

Harry could feel arms around him and at first he panicked, then he realized that these arms were not hurting him. Then he heard her voice. He knew that voice. He associated it with warmth and vanilla, of friendship and family and so much more. He opened his eye and there she was, looking down at him. Tears streaming down her face. Concern and something else in her eyes. "Mione." He whispered with all the emotion he could muster. He closed his eyes for a moment. "I'll be fine."

"Do you feel like talking about it?" she asked in a soft tender voice.

"I need a moment." She just nodded.

She helped him up off the floor and sat on the couch were Emma joined them, engulfing them both in a hug.

"Lord Potter, do you wish to do another?" Longknife inquired.

"No. I'm not sure I want to see any more if their all as bad as that and I have no reason to doubt that they will be."

After a moment he asked, "Is there a way to open those memories outside of my mind so I don't have to relive them?"

"I'm afraid not, my Lord. Was it truly so bad?"

Harry took another moment to muster his strength, holding Hermione's hand he started. "I was six and the fall term had just ended for the holidays. I was brining home my first evaluation. I was proud of my marks. That is until Uncle Vernon saw them. Before I knew it, his ham of a fist hit me in the face. I think he broke my nose. I found myself on the floor looking up. He was as mad as I had ever seen him. He bellowed about me using my freakishness to out do Dudley in school. He then proceeded to kick or stomp every part of me he could. Then I was thrown in my cupboard and feed table scraps for the rest of the holidays. I thought I was going to die.' Tears leaked as he relived it again. With a sniff, he continued. 'Then a man with a long beard and hair showed up. He pulled out what I now know was a wand and healed me. Not completely, but apparently enough that I wouldn't die. Then took away the memory of what happened but not why. That's when my grades started to drop. I couldn't do better than my cousin."

"How was the man dressed Harry? Do you remember?" Andi asked softly.

"They were the ugliest purple robes ever, with moons and stars floating across them. Do you know anyone that dresses like that?"

"Unfortunately I do. The same man that declared you dead."

"Are we sure my parents are dead?"

"Unfortunately Harry, yes we are. There are three different records that proclaim that and there is only one that could be tampered with. But as the others also confirm their death, there is no reason to tamper with it."

"Longknife, you said that there were about twenty more memories." Harry said more as a question than a statement. Longknife just nodded his head. "Damn." Surprisingly no one commented on his language. "Is there anything we can do about this?" He asked in general.

It was Andi that spoke. "Even though I am not a barrister, I don't think there is a thing we could do in the muggle world as we would have to explain the existence of magic. On the magical side the man in question holds many powerful positions. Assailing him will be difficult if not impossible."

"Madam Longbottom, since there is no time to plan a meeting of our allies, I will leave it to you to explain what we know and see what they advise. As much as I don't want to, releasing those other memories may be our only choice."

Over the next two weeks Harry and Hermione practiced wandless shields and awareness. Godric's ring stressed that in combat you must be aware of what is going on around you all the time. Even though they were not actually in a war, they didn't know what to expect and felt better being prepared.

**A/N:**Next the express, the sorting and maybe Rita's article. It will depend on the length of the chapter.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Sorry for the long delay. Life and trying to keep up with favorite stories got in the way. Harry Potter and others belong to JKR.

Chapter 20: The final memories and the Hogwarts Express.

Harry and the Grangers had decided that it might be best to go ahead and release the other memories in order to find out if there was a reason other than to hide what had been done to him or the number of times he had come close to death, for his memories to be tampered with. With just two weeks left before school was to start, it would have to be done one after another and hope that Harry would not have a mental breakdown in the process. Andi had contacted and gotten an oath of secrecy from a trusted mind healer to be there to help Harry handle what was revealed. Vials were also obtained to hold copies of the memories after they had been opened in order to use them to convict all that were involved.

It took three days in which to view them all, giving Harry time to recover in between. In all, there were fifteen more times where Harry was near death, either from a rib puncturing a lung or from nearly bleeding to death from the slashes from the studded belt. Every time, it was Dumbledore that showed up. Sometimes he had a woman with him that was later identified as the school healer. It was noted that as soon as she was done with the healing, she too had her memory modified.

It was also noted that on more than one occasion, Vernon was admonished for his treatment as too harsh, 'I want him broken not dead. He still has a destiny to fulfill. How can I be seen as a savior to him, if he is dead?'

"Okay. That helps a little. Do you remember the nightmare that has me convinced Voldemort may not be dead? Didn t he say something about me being a child of prophesy? Could these be linked somehow?" Harry asked after everyone had viewed the memories in a pensive.

"It s possible, Milord. One thing is for certain, you should never be alone with that man. Even if Minerva is not your head of house, I must insist that you have her present whenever you or Hermione meet with him, Madam Longbottom declared. I would not put it past him to try to do something to get you under his control again."

"That is good advice and that goes for you too, Hermione." Harry sat and thought for a moment. "Madam Longbottom, I need for you to talk to the other heads and find out what they might know about prophesies and if there is a record of them. In the mean time, I plan to relax as much as possible after everything we have learned these last few days."

"Lord Potter, how do you feel after seeing everything that has been done to you over the last eight years," asked Healer Edwards.

"Scared, nervous, amazed and curious."

"Would you care to explain," he asked.

"Scared that someone could do such a thing to anyone let alone a child, and let it happen over and over again. Nervous, because I have to be around the man that did this to me. Amazed that I didn't die before he got there to keep me alive until the next time. I won't say saved because what he did isn't saving. And curious as to what he feels my destiny is. What makes me so special or different that he put me through all that? I could very easily see myself become bitter and hate everyone for what he did. Luckily, Minerva showed up when she did and found the Grangers. Without them, I could very well have been broken beyond repair or, after finding out about magic, found ways to use it to get revenge. Minerva and the Grangers are my definition of heroes."

"We re not heroes, Harry. We just did what was right," said Dan.

"Exactly!" Harry said beaming a thousand watt smile.

"Lord..." started Healer Edwards.

:Please call me Harry. You are not my vassal, so I see no need for you to address me as such in private."

"Harry, you certainly are different. Anyway what I wanted to say, for all that you have been through, you seem to be doing remarkably well. However, I do want you to let someone know if you start to withdraw or start having nightmares, more than you do now. Hermione, since you will be with him at school, it will be up to you to keep an eye on him. You know him better than anyone else, so you will most likely see the change in him first. Don t let him go too long without help. The longer it goes on, the harder it will be to reverse the damage. AM I clear Harry, Hermione?"

"Crystal," they said together.

"Now then, Harry," continued the healer, "I understand that you have been learning Occlumency." Harry nodded yes. "Good. Use it to help store away these memories. Don't try to bury them because that will allow them to pop-up at the worst possible time. Storing memories like these away allows you to control when or if you ever see them again. Someone taunting you could cause one of these to pop- up and cause you to freeze. In the middle of a duel would be disastrous. For now that's the best advice I can give you."

"Hermione, since it seems that we are heading into a possibly hostile environment, I think that we should try to master the body shield that the ring of Gryffindor showed me," Harry said later that evening.

"Do you think we can learn it in the time we have left before school?"

"Even if we can't, we will be safer and we can continue after we get to school. I really don't like the idea of going there with nothing but our wands for protection. One never knows where an attack will come from. Remember what Dad said about awareness when he was teaching us to center ourselves while teaching us martial arts?"

"Yes, Harry," She sighed. "He said it often enough. I m glad he taught us how to meditate. It made learning Occlumency much easier."

"You know we need to find a way to thank Aunt Minnie for that. Not only will it help keep our minds safe but it is a great learning tool. I find it a lot easier to remember what I learned."

"Yeah, I thought I had a really good memory before, but it is even better now."

"Mmmm. Is that going to make it harder for me to keep up with you?"

"Of course it is," she stated matter of factly with a smug smile. She loved the competition between them.

"Is that a challenge, Miss Granger?"

"Of course it is. How else will you get better if you have no competition?"

"Okay let's get started on the shield. According to Godric s ring, you tap your head and shoulders with your wand while saying Protego Corporis (1), and you should feel a warm feeling trickle down your body. The stronger your magic is, the stronger a spell it will block."

"Does he say how long it will last?"

"It depends on if it is active or passive. In other words, it depends on if it is just sitting there or if it is actually blocking an attack. Just to be on the safe side, we should re-apply it every morning before we leave the dorms."

"I wonder if there is a way to test to see if we did it right."

Harry thought for a minute. "When you were reading the charms book, didn't you say you saw a tickling charm?"

"I did! she exclaimed. Let me get the book and double check."

When she returned, without warning, she pointed her wand at Harry with a counter-clockwise circular motion ending with a jab, incanted "Titillo". She watched as the spell left her wand and bounced off the invisible barrier around Harry.

"Harry spun around and gasped, What did you do?"

"I tested your shield and it appears to work as it should. The reason I didn't warn you is to be sure you didn't do something to interfere. How did you know?"

"When your spell hit, my shield rang like a bell. I would guess that is to let you know you are under attack."

"Now what spell did you use so I can check yours?"

"The incantation is Titillo and the wand movement is a small counter-clockwise circle with a jab at the end."

Now that the block on his core was finally gone, Harry had to watch how much power he put into any spell he cast. With that in mind Harry cast what he thought was a low -powered tickling charm. Hermione looked at him when it first hit and then fell to the floor giggling. "Stop Harry! I can t breathe."

Harry stopped immediately and knelt next to her and held her hand. "Are you all right?" he asked her anxiously.

After a moment she said, "Yes, Harry, I m fine. Either my shield isn't as strong as yours or you still need to fine -tune your control."

"I really did try to reduce the power I put into that spell, but it didn't seem to affect you at first so your shield must have had some effect."

"Well when it first hit, it sounded like a dinner bell rang and then it felt like I was being tickled all over."

"A dinner bell? Not like a church bell?"

"No Harry, it wasn't that loud."

"I wonder what the difference means. Is it the strength of the shield or the power of the spell? I wish Aunt Minnie was here to ask."

"We need to get used to calling her Professor McGonagall or we will get her in trouble at school," she reminded him.

Harry nodded in response. "We need to write down all the questions we have so we don t forget any of them. I know our memories are better, but I don t want to miss something that might be important."

"Harry?"

"Yes, Hermione."

"How do you feel about parchment and quills?"

"I know we have been practicing with them, but they're awkward and messy. I wish we could use paper and biros. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I have been looking at the rule book that they gave us, and even though we have to do our homework on parchment, there is nothing that says we have to take notes with them."

"Really?" She nodded back. "Well then we should stock up on spirals and use them to keep our notes in. That would make it easier to keep them organized." Over the last year that Harry had spent with the Grangers, one thing he learned was organization. All three stressed how much easier things were if they were organized. Harry had found this to be very true. It didn't matter if it was finding his homework, a book to do his homework or just his personal belongings.

"That's what I was thinking too. We could even get them in different colors for each subject to make it even easier to keep track of them."

The last weekend before term started they made one last trip to Diagon Alley. Harry, after studying most of his class material, decided that if he and Hermione had to lug those books around all day or even for very long, they would get quite heavy and wanted to see if there were book bags that could lighten the load. In the trunk shop they found feather-weight and expanded book bags for five galleons each and bought a pair. They found no other books that interested them in the bookstore. They had visited the local mall and stocked up on spirals just like they talked about. With this last bit of shopping done, they felt that they were ready for school at long last.

September 1st 1991

For the previous two weeks Harry and Hermione had continued to test each other's shield for strength and endurance and were satisfied that it would have to be a strong witch or wizard to get through them. They also spent time reviewing everything that Professor McGonagall had taught them. At that point they were ready and found it hard to sleep the night before; they were out of bed before seven and were ready to leave.

"You two aren't anxious, aren't you?" teased Emma Granger.

"Not in the least," deadpanned Harry, while Hermione did an eye roll that clearly said, 'Really Mother'.

Dan and Emma shared a look and then burst out laughing. "I guess that you have had a rather busy summer. Maybe things will slow down now that school is starting," Dan said.

Harry looked at him thoughtfully for a moment and then said, "Maybe in a couple of weeks. Don't forget, my showing up at all is going to stir up the wizarding world. Then there are the stories that Miss Skeeter will start to run in the Prophet that will continue to stir the cauldron."

"Are you ready for it, Harry?" Emma asked slightly worried.

"I don't like what is going to happen. You all know how private I am. But I won't be alone either. I'll have Hermione, Minerva and the kids from the alliance that have gotten to know us over the past year. I wish I had more time because of the recent memory releases, but I had you, Hermione, Augusta and Healer Edwards to help me get through it all. I think that I am as ready as I ever will be."

"So are your trunks all packed and ready to go? What about Hedwig? Will you take her in her cage?" Dan asked to change the subject.

Harry and Hermione laughed, but Hermione replied, "We were packed two days ago. The only things we left out were something to read and our robes so we can change on the train."

"Hedwig doesn't really like her cage and will fly on her own. It's not like she doesn t know where she is going."

"Okay, so since that is settled, Minerva said that it will take about seven hours by train. What would you like to snack on?" Emma asked.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and Harry nodded to her. "Well, we talked about it and since they only have candy on the train, we thought it might be nice to have some sandwiches and fruit to snack on. I don t know if our friends will bring anything so we should probably pack enough for all of us."

"That s very sensible dear. We ll put a picnic basket together with enough for everybody along with some juice to drink." replied Emma.

Dan and Harry loaded the trunks and backpacks in the car while Hermione and Emma fixed up the basket. They arrived at the train station at a little past ten in the morning. They made their way through the crowd until they reached the seventh pillar between platforms nine and ten. Dan held onto Harry and Emma held onto Hermione as they made their way onto platform 9 3/4. They all stopped and admired the red and gold steam engine as it billowed smoke and steam.

"WOW!" exclaimed Harry. "That is so neat. I wonder how old it is?"

"According to Hogwarts: A History it was built in 1841, so it is about one hundred and fifty years old," remarked Hermione.

They stood and watched as other families started to enter the platform waiting for the other children of the alliance before boarding and finding the compartment. By 10:30 AM, all of the Potter Alliance had arrived and boarded the train choosing two neighboring compartments. One compartment contained Harry, Hermione, Neville and Terry. Susan, Hannah, Daphne and Tracey shared the other. Even though the compartments could hold six easily, eight if you squeezed, they chose this arrangement keeping friends together. Susan and Hannah had been closer friends for a long time and saw each other more than the rest, as had Tracey and Daphne. Sometime during the trip they would change so that they all spent some time together and share the snacks and sandwiches that Emma packed for the trip.

"I wonder if other families thought to do as you have and brought lunches," Terry asked.

"I don't know," replied Harry, "but as all they have on board is a candy cart and it is a seven -hour trip, our folks thought that it would be a good idea." As he looked out the window watching other families arrive, he didn't see any evidence that others had brought anything with them.

"Well, I think it was a great idea and when I write home, I'm going to mention it so the next trip we can provide the snacks," Terry said.

As Harry was people -watching, he saw a large group of redheads enter through the portal just moments before the train was due to leave. "Who are they?"

Neville and Terry looked out the window to see whom he was referring to. "That would be the Weasleys. I think they have something like seven kids, if I remember what my Gran told me. Their dad works at the ministry. The two oldest have already left Hogwarts. Don't know what they do for a living. The little girl is the only daughter. Seems like I heard she was the first girl in several generations born into the family," Neville informed them.

"Wow! That s a big family," exclaimed Harry. "Do you know anything else about them?"

Neville looked at Terry kind of nervously. "Harry, I don't want to sound snobbish, but our families don't travel in the same circles. Even though we are both purebloods, the Weasleys are not a wealthy family, and well Neville fidgeted, we have had no reason to mingle. I'm not saying I wouldn't if they have a child our age; it's just that so far we ve had no reason to. Do you understand?" he pleaded.

"Sure Neville. Don't worry about it. Your Gran made sure that we understood blood and financial separations that we will encounter. There were kids in our old school that if we hadn't been in the same classes, Hermione and I probably wouldn't have met either. Money, while nice to have, can be such a pain sometimes. It separates people too much."

"Thanks Harry."

Just then the train jerked. "Wahoo! Mione, we re finally on our way, Harry exclaimed."

Hermione grabbed his hand, "Isn't it exciting to finally be on our way?"

Harry just bounced in his seat for a few minutes before he finally calmed down. Ten minutes later, a red headed boy opened their compartment door, looked around and left.

"I wonder who he was looking for," Harry asked no one in particular.

"What do you mean, Harry," asked Terry.

"He had the look of someone looking for something or someone." Harry said as he watched the door as if he expected the boy to come back.

After two hours was the first round of changing companions. It was now Harry, Hermione, Susan and Hannah. Three hours later they decided to open the picnic basket and have a snack. The last part of the trip had Daphne and Tracy join Harry and Hermione. The boy never did come back and other than people just passing and looking in, they were not disturbed. Finally it was announced that they were arriving at Hogwarts and it was time to change clothes. Harry, Terry and Neville used one compartment and the girls used the other to put on their uniforms and robes.

It was dark when they finally got off the train and heard, "First years over here. First years over here." They looked over to where they heard the voice coming from and saw the biggest man they had ever seen.

"That must be Hagrid. Professor McGonagall told us about him. He s the groundskeeper. She said that he was as friendly as anyone you would want to meet, but can t keep a secret to save his soul. Come on, let s go meet him," Harry urged.

As a group they walked over and stood and looked up at him. They all looked at him in awe as he held his lantern high so all the first year students could find him. As they watched he pointed with his right hand, jabbing as he looked them over. He seemed to be counting.

"All right, you're all here. Now follow me and we'll head down to the lake. Watch your step. It s a bit steep."

They followed the big man and his lantern. As it was dark and there were bushes and trees on both sides of the path, there wasn t much to see. Hagrid finally came to a stop and they noticed they were standing close to a dock where maybe a dozen small boats sat. Beyond the boats there was nothing but blackness.

"Now then everybody is to get into a boat. No more than four to a boat. That blackness you see out there is the Black Lake. Lots of wonderful creatures in there. If you take Care of Magical Creatures, you'll learn all about them." He looked up and down the shore. "Everybody in?" he asked as he stepped into a boat by himself. "Forward." He bellowed and the boats moved out on their own.

It wasn't long after the left the dock that Harry felt as if he had just passed through a waterfall of magic. He looked at Hermione and her eyes were as amazed as he was sure his were. She looked at him and nodded. Harry looked at Neville and Susan who was the other occupants of their boat, but neither looked as if they had noticed anything out of the norm. Could it be, he wondered, that children that grew up in magical households were so used to this they didn't even notice anymore? Harry felt that he had passed through at least fifteen such waterfalls before he heard Hagrid.

"You'll get your first look at Hogwarts here in a minute. It wasn't long after that "ooh's" and "aaah's" could be heard. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Susan's boat soon rounded the point and they got their first look at the castle.

"Wow!" Harry softly said as gazed up the hill. He and Hermione had read Hogwarts, a History , but words just could not prepare him for the vision that he now beheld. He hadn't understood why they were going by boat, but now he understood. He didn't think you could get this view any other way and wondered if he ever would again. Not knowing if it would be possible, he etched every detail into his brain so he would never forget.

It wasn't long after that they heard Hagrid holler, "Watch your heads." Harry watched the others in front of him and saw no need to duck. Hagrid was tall enough, even seated, that he had to duck below the vines that partially covered the entrance to the cove where they were to get out of the boats. There was a long climb that when they stopped put them in front of massive front doors of the castle.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. Hagrid knocked with his equally massive hands. When the doors opened, there stood Professor Minerva McGonagall.

"The first years, Professor."

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A/N: Don't ya just hate cliff hangers? Sorry but what I have planned (if I can get it written) would put this chapter as my longest yet.

(1)The spell is of my own creation and basically means Shield the Body  
>(2)As I said at the top many things got in the way of writing. Hopefully my muse will hang around for a while this time.<p>

Also I m trying a beta for my stories. He s good as I have read several stories he beta'd. My thanks to texan-muggle.

I do hope this was worth the trouble.


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